A new study reveals that sleep deprivation can trigger powerful changes in how you eat, similar to the “hedonistic eating” triggered by smoking pot, the Washington Post reports. The researchers said that lack of sleep augments the same system targeted by the active ingredient of marijuana and significantly increases cravings for eating and also for guilty pleasure gained from eating sweet or salty, high-fat snack foods.
Advertisement
People who are having trouble falling asleep often tend to eat more junk food. And during waking hours, participants were limited to sedentary activities (except for napping), housed in a private room, and were only allowed dim lighting from the time they woke up until 10:30 p.m.
A whole range of issues can be triggered by missing out on your seven to eight hours per night… “But, given the opportunity, the subjects in this study more than made up for it by bingeing on snacks, taking in more than 300 extra calories”, says Hanlon.
In well-rested volunteers, levels of 2-AG rose in the morning, peaked around midday, and declined again.
In a commentary that accompanied the study, Frank Scheer of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital said that the results make for “compelling evidence” that food reward mechanisms underlie sleeplessness-related excess food intake and weight gain. During the second visit, they were restricted to 4.5 hours in bed, for an average of 4.2 hours of sleep per night.
More than two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, and more than a third get inadequate sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study has found that sleep restriction leads not only to increased caloric intake, but also result in changes in the hedonic aspects of food consumption.
“If you’re sleep deprived”, she said in a statement, “your hedonic drive for certain foods gets stronger, and your ability to resist them may be impaired”.
The researchers found levels of endocannabinoid 2-arachidonolyglycerol, or 2-AG, was present in higher levels in the bodies of those with less sleep, and peaked somewhere around mid-afternoon – when participants reported they were the most hungry. Researchers found that the sleep-deprived participants felt a strong urge to binge on these high-fat snacks, despite consuming a meal containing 90 percent of their recommended daily calorie intake just two hours earlier.
Lack of sleep can be a risk factor because it boosts hunger, due to the delicate balance between the nutrients consumed and the energy costs of staying awake, which remain generally the same whether you’ve had enough sleep or not.
Late afternoon/early evening is most certainly munchie time, but the types of foods you reach for and subsequently the calories you take in, has a LOT to do with last night’s sleep. “Sleep restriction may cause overeating by acting in the same manner”.
The study, published in the most recent issue of the journal Sleep, specifically looked at a chemical called endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG for short). An irregular night short of sleep makes you a sense of tiredness and ill-tempered the following day, however, it won’t ruin your well-being. “So you are more likely to eat it”, Hanlon said.
Advertisement
A quarter of adults said their sex lives suffered because they’re just too exhausted to perform, according to a poll by the National Sleep Foundation.
