Source: Good News Network
Written by Mark Waghorn / SWNS
If you can’t figure out why you’re so desperately craving junk food late at night, this new research says that it might be because you’re not getting enough sleep.
Based on studies from Cologne University in Germany, tiredness boosts both production of brain cells and hunger hormones that are linked to comfort eating and hunger respectively.
Additionally, researchers say that participants who went an entire night with no sleep were willing to fork out more cash for snacks like chocolates and biscuits compared to non-food items. On the other hand, they would not spend the same excessive amounts of money after getting a proper night’s rest.
It explains why we are more likely to reach for the biscuit tin than a piece of fruit late at night. Britain is among the most overweight and sleep-deprived nations in the world – and evidence shows that the two are linked.
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Psychologist Julia Rihm said: “We found a full night of sleep deprivation compared with a night of habitual sleep increased the subjective values of snack food rewards compared with non-food rewards.”
Using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) brain scans, her team showed losing sleep fired up neurons in the amygdala and hypothalamus. The former is an area of grey matter that has been linked to reward seeking behavior – such as eating – under stress. The latter controls appetite.
“The data suggests one way a lack of sleep can promote overeating and obesity risk,” said Rihm. “This behavioral result was paralleled by increased amygdala and hypothalamus activity selectively after sleep deprivation.
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Blood tests also showed increased levels of ghrelin, the hormone that tells us to eat.
The study published in JNeurosci was based on 32 healthy 19 to 33-year-old men of normal weight…
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