Sleep Deprivation Makes You More Likely to Overeat
Studies have indicated that healthy weight is linked with quality sleep. In support of these findings, a new study was presented during this year’s Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism event held by the American Heart Association, the results of which suggested that sleep disorders leading to sleep deprivation have a strong correlation with overeating.
According to the Mayo Clinic study, those who do not get enough sleep will eat an average of 500 more calories than those who have adequate sleep. A research team lead by Virend Somers, a Mayo Clinic medical professor, gathered this information by testing 17 men and women under laboratory conditions for 11 whole days. During the first three days of the project, the subjects’ physical activity and food intake were observed and recorded. The study team used this data to make precise calculations of energy expenditure and figure out how many calories were burned off during their daytime activities. These figures served as baseline data.
After three control days, one group was allowed to sleep every night without interruption for 8 days. The other group was regularly woken up two-thirds of the time into their normal sleep duration. This totalled up to an average of about 80 minutes less sleep per night for the experiment’s variable group. It was established that the group participants who had less sleep ate more than usual during the experiment period. The group that was allowed their normal sleep time maintained the usual eating habits and meal frequency that was established during the three-day control period.
Researchers derived that those who slept poorly were more susceptible to gain weight in the long run. Somers said that this group did not necessarily lose energy, but that they did increase their fat levels. These findings support other studies that showed graveyard shift employees or workers gaining more pounds than those who worked normal hours.
There is definitely a connection between appetite and lack of sleep. Sleep is a vital function for bodily repair, and it lets the brain settle and relax after a day’s work. It is the time when important hormones, such as those controlling human growth, are released. But it is also the time when the body produces hormones that are connected with appetite. Leptin is a hormone that suppresses appetite. Scientists did believe that leptin is released at night. But the sleep study indicated that people who had less sleep actually had increased levels of Leptin. Although the researchers did not indicate the reason for the hormonal increase, it was concluded that it may be linked to sleep deprivation, overeating and increased fat levels.
Sleep disorders that result in lesser quality of sleep is also known to be a precursor of other health issues like diabetes, coronary problems and high blood pressure. When a person gains weight, this can exacerbate the risk of these conditions as well. Overall, proponents of the study said that the relationship between weight gain, sleep deprivation and susceptibility to disease is a complex one, and that the best way to address the entire issue would be to diagnose and treat sleep disorders early by making an appointment with a sleep doctor.
When a tired person is eating instead of getting sleep, it affects bodily functions. Rather than burning calories, fat is retained in the body. At the end of the day, the study’s findings — the fact that cutting down on sleep by a just couple of hours a night over the course of a week or so can make you eat an average of 550 more calories a day — can be a valuable message about how detrimental lack of sleep can actually be for our health.
