Sleep More Eat Less

Ever wonder why you are so hungry? Maybe it is because you are not getting enough sleep.

Researchers allowed 12 healthy young lean men to sleep for either four or eight hours in a laboratory. After one night of four hours of sleep, the men ate 22 percent more calories the next day than they did after eight hours of sleep. The also reported being more hungry before breakfast and dinner.

In a separate study, scientists found that a single night with only four hours of sleep led to insulin resistance in nine healthy lean men and women in their 40's. After the night of restricted sleep, the participants were less able to move blood sugar into their cells, which suggests that their bodies were at least temporarily resistant to insulin. Insulin resistance can lead to heart disease, diabetes, and possibly breast cancer.

What to do: Get enough sleep. Most adults need 7 to 8 hours per night. Other studies that limited adults sleep have found higher levels of gherlin (which makes people hungry) and lower levels of leptin (which makes people feel full) in their blood. Changes in gherlin, leptin and insultin resistance may explain why studies find a higher risk of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure in people who do not sleep enough.

Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 91:1550, 2010 and J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 95:2963, 2010

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