Improved Sleep Quality May Help Reduce Junk Food Cravings And Night-time Snacking

[DCUK NewsBot]

Improving sleep quality might reduce the risk of night-time snacking and decrease the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes, research suggests. While these findings likely won't surprise too many people, they add further evidence on the importance of the relationship between lack of sleep and type 2 diabetes. University of Arizona researchers analysed 3,105 adults in this new study, asking them about their night-time snack consumption and whether poor sleep quality increased their junk food cravings. The results showed that 60% of participants reported regular night-time snacking, and two-thirds cited a lack of sleep increased cravings. Overall, junk food cravings were associated with double the risk of night-time snacking, which was associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. One of the researchers, Dr Michael A. Grandner, said "Laboratory studies suggest that sleep deprivation can lead to junk food cravings at night, which leads to increased unhealthy snacking at night, which then leads to weight gain. "This study provides important information about the process, that these laboratory findings may actually translate to the real world. This connection between poor sleep, junk food cravings and unhealthy night-time snacking may represent an important way that sleep helps regulate metabolism." Fellow sleep expert Christopher Sanchez, who was also involved in the research, added: "Sleep is increasingly recognized as an important factor in health, alongside nutrition. This study shows how sleep and eating patterns are linked and work together to promote health." Eating a healthy, real food diet can help improve your sleep quality, as can getting regular exercise, lowering your alcohol intake and avoiding stimulants close to bedtime. For people with existing type 2 diabetes, keeping good control of blood sugar levels can help you to settle into a regular sleeping pattern, which may in turn reduce cravings for night-time snacking. The study is being presented at the 2018 national meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, which is taking place between 2-6 June in Baltimore, America.

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[ickihun]

Myself I can eat to keep myself awake if needed for kids when tired. Partner prefers I'm available for kids than catching up on sleep but my new Assertiveness insist I go for a sleep when shattered now and not eat something my body doesn't need.
Although good sleep hygiene prefers no daytime sleeping or just an alarmed nap of 20mins.
Iron deficiency causes tiredness so not great for eating to keep awake. Awareness makes all the difference thou, I feel.
Once you're aware what's happening you can deliberately stop eating for wrong reason. Wrong food types too, altho I'm already savy to junk and high carby foods already.
Confusion was apparent for me but not now.

 

[ickihun]

Did you see this @Jenny15?

 

[Jenny15]

Did you see this @Jenny15?

Yes, thanks @ickihun. I had major issues with carb cravings for years, before I was diagnosed with diabetes or sleep apnoea (OSA). When OSA was diagnosed, I found out about the hormones leptin and ghrelin (sp?). People with untreated severe OSA have imbalances in these hormones, which leads to the cravings.

A normal sleep cycle is 90 minutes and allows the person to go down through the 4 or so sleep stages into deep, restorative REM sleep for a while. During that deep sleep, the hunger hormones regulation system gets its batteries recharged.

A person with untreated OSA wakes up every few minutes and often never gets past sleep stage 1 or 2, let alone into REM sleep for enough time.

It makes sense for the body to work this way. If you're unable to get enough sleep, the brain kicks in to say hey get some high energy food to keep you going until you get some proper sleep. For someone like me, that proper sleep never came. For years.

In the past I noticed that if I had a really bad night of sleep or no sleep at all, I had big cravings for the whole of the next day. So the research rings true for me.

Doctors and patients don't tend to think enough about sleep quality and they should. Especially if we sleep alone, we give little thought to what is happening while we are asleep. At least if your spouse is telling you that your loud snoring is annoying, you have a hint that you might need a test for OSA.