Weight Gain Linked To Lack Of Sleep

Not getting enough sleep can lead you to eat quite a bit more and gain weight, and a new study suggests the connection is caused by what happens in the sleep-deprived brain.

Researchers at the University of California Berkeley found that after just one sleepless night, the brain’s frontal lobe, which governs rational decision-making, was impaired. In contrast, there was increased activity in the more primitive brain region that controls desire and responds to rewards. As a result, study participants — 23 healthy young adults — craved unhealthy snacks and junk food when they were sleep deprived, and had less ability to rein in that impulse.

Senior author Matthew Walker, a professor of psychology and neuroscience, says that combination may help explain why people who sleep less tend to be overweight or obese. On the other hand, he points out, the findings indicate that getting enough sleep could help promote weight control “by priming the brain mechanisms governing appropriate food choices.”

So what the geeks are essentially saying is that if you do not sleep much then you want to eat. And what are you likely to have in your house, junk food. It is the snacks that you do not have to cook. If not then you just nip over to the 24-hour fast food joint and buy some unhealthy food.

There you have it. Want to control weight gain. Don’t stay up too late.