Great News! Sleeping Might Make You Sick

It’s Sunday! Which means sleeping in 'til 11 and waking up only for hash browns and early-afternoon alcohol, right?

Wrong. Sleeping in can kill you.

Okay, we’re joking. But this is horrible news. The New York Times reports on a new study by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism that found higher metabolic risks amongst those who go to bed and wake up later on the weekends than they do during the week. 

Although this news has basically ruined our lives—for what gets us through the week more than that sweet, sweet relief of extra weekend sleep?—all isn’t lost. For one, the study only focused on a relatively small number of people (447 men and women) and only tracked them for seven days. And, while they did find that people who slept late on weekends had lower good cholesterol, higher triglycerides, higher insulin resistance, and higher BMIs, the researchers admit they’re not sure what the long term effects are. They think the heart of the problem is how our everyday schedules force us to alter our natural internal clocks, which sounds like we need to sleep in every day because science says so. But, until we cross that bridge, we’ll compromise by continuing to sleep in on the weekends, BMI be damned. 

(Via The New York Times)