Two weeks of sleeping six hours a night is enough to produce measurable visceral fat accumulation

A 2022 study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology measured visceral fat in adults restricted to 6 hours of sleep per night for two weeks. The sleep-restricted group accumulated an average of 11 cm² more visceral fat over the study period — without any dietary change. Matthew Walker's fMRI research demonstrated that sleep-deprived adults show 24% stronger activation of the amygdala in response to images of high-calorie foods, while the prefrontal cortex shows reduced inhibitory connectivity.