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Scientists are still trying to understand the full purpose of sleep. But we know one thing it’s probably good for: it may help keep you on that diet.
Researchers scanned the brains of 12 normal weight men, while they looked at images of high and low caloric food—after a night of normal sleep and then also a night without any sleep. After one night of zero sleep the scans showed a high level of activity in the area responsible for hunger, the right anterior cingulate cortex . Now, this response was independent of how hungry a subject claimed he was before scanning, as well as the caloric content associated with the food in the pictures.
Interestingly, after looking at the food images, subjects who went without sleep reported that they were hungrier than those who’d snoozed the night away. But blood glucose levels taken before the subjects were shown images of food were the same as those measured after.
So sleep loss resulted in what scientists call “hedonic stimulus processing”—they had a heightened desire to eat, independent of their blood glucose levels. Take home message: lack of sleep plus Food TV equals phony hunger. And probably real pounds.
—Christie Nicholson
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
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5 Comments
Add CommentDear Christie Nicholson, maybe I'm not fully awake, but, this report doesn't quite ring true. The fact is, or generally speaking, lack of sleep equals greater energy use! Thus, one would assume some level of increased hunger associated with various internal signals going off when sleep deprivation takes place (regardless of what the 12 subjects "claimed"). Looking at food, if in fact you are to some degree hungrier, should be expected to contribute to reporting more hungry. A drop in blood glucose levels is not the only feedback loop (though it wouldn't be a surprise to find a more extensive study finds a statistically significant drop).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPS: Anecdotal point, I've been up all night & this morning I found myself, not normal for me, in the drive through at McDonald's (also, no recent prior time spent looking at food images - except in the drive through line).
Richard Carlson
this needs to be looked at differently, studies have shown a disruption of the sleep cycle makes it hard to lose weight (e.g. night shift work). Higher cortisol levels stimulate appetite as well as down shift metabolism, why nature seems to equate this with starvation I can't fathom, but I never had a pt. able to lose weight doing shift work.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAccording to my experience, If I am living in an irregular life style, I am inclined to get fat. Personally, I believe it's because the disturbing of biorhythm, including the felling of hunger.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is interesting, especially because it's been shown that disrupted or shortened sleep time makes it harder for Type II Diabetics to regulate blood glucose levels as well.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAfter having a heavy lunch ppl feel sleepy. May be there is some inbuilt mechanism which gets activated when deprived of sleep, so that u eat more and sleep more (so as to account for the skipped nap/sleep)
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