FACT: The Less You Sleep, The More Hungry You Feel

Are you tired and sleep deprived? Loosing sleep means gaining a little bit more calories the next day- this is a fact proven by research. Just by how much? Researchers have raised the same questions and the results are just a little bit more than you can expect. 

The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition publishes a new study that counts the number of extra calories one gains after loosing significant hours of sleep. Further studies have also shown how enough sleep can contribute to effective loosing weight.

Lack of sleep have proven to contribute to obesity and type 2 diabetes. Hence, many researchers have taken measures to calculate the caloric effect of inadequate sleep.

Results from 11 previous studies have been collected and analyzed. These studies on "partial sleep deprivation" and calorie consumption included 172 people between 18 to 50 years of age, both male and female whose weights vary from normal, overweight to obese. All studies included control groups of individuals who had enough sleep- of 7 to 12 hours of sleep in bed at night. The group who are deprived of sleep were only given 3.5 to 5.5 hours in bed.

Partial Sleep Deprivation "means that people were sleep deprived for part of the night but not for a full night," explained by author Gerda Pot, PhD. "Partial sleep deprivation could affect sleep quantity and/or quality."

The results of the study revealed that the group who are deprived of sleep consumed 385 extra calories per day- an amount equivalent to four and a half slices of bread. 385 calories is close to one-fifth of the total energy needs of a moderately active middle-aged woman.

Pot further confirmed that people who are deprived of sleep tend to consume more fat than protein. Carbohydrate consumption remains the same.

Researchers also identify the effects of lack of sleep on the hormones. Specifically, s on hormones related to hunger- leptin and ghrelin. Pot and her colleagues believe this is because of a "hedonic" effect, the tendency to overeat because the feeling of tiredness may actively seek pleasure.

The urge to binge eat may be "because they are more jittery and can't satisfy their anxiety with eating," Sharon Zarabi, RD, director of the bariatric program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

Researches further reveal that loosing sleep will not burn extra calories. In fact, long term deprivation of sleep can cause significant weight gain.

The studies mentioned however did not last for more than two weeks. Therefore, it is uncertain whether the extra calorie calculated may add extra pounds too.

"We need to do more research into sleep as a possible remediable risk factor for obesity and possibly other cardio-metabolic diseases like diabetes, especially in today's society in which trends are showing that people sleep less," confirmed Pot .

It is therefore concluded that sleep deprivation can lead to extra caloric gain, among other things. It is important to ensure sufficient rest as sleep allows the body to replenish its many parts and their functions in our daily life and activities.

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