According to a new study, the advice of not going to the grocery store when hungry, should also include don’t go to the grocery store while sleepy either. The research published in the journal Obesity, shows that just one night of sleep deprivation could will a person to buy more food, in quantity and calorie count, at a grocery store the next day.
The study included 14 men of normal weight, who were given about $50 to buy food after a night of normal sleep and then again after a night of complete sleep deprivation. The participants were given 20 high-calorie and 20 low-calorie food options to choose from while shopping. They also were fed breakfast before the shopping trip so that hunger would not be a factor.
After the night of sleep deprivation, the men purchased 9% more calories and 18% more grams of food, compared to the night of full restful sleep.
The links between sleep deprivation and food intake has been demonstrated by previous research. At the University of California, Berkeley, showed that sleep deprivation not only makes people want junk food more than healthy food, but it also altered brain activity by impairing the decision-making region of the brain, increasing activity in a reward-linked region. Also, researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder found that sleeping less than 5 hours a night for a week is linked with eating more calories from snacks after dinner.
Sleep affects us in ways we don’t always realize. Sleeping more is a great way to not only protect your waistline, but also reap benefits such as productivity, better memory and more feelings of optimism.
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