Science Explains How A Sleep Deficiency Changes Your Food Cravings

health

4.    Sleep Deprivation Leads To A Hormonal Imbalance

Lack of sleep is not something to be treated lightly. Statistics point out that people who sleep five hours or less per night are 50% more likely to be obese than people who sleep eight hours. This happens because sleep deprivation messes with your body’s hormonal balance.

Three powerful hormones are affected by lack of sleep. First, there is leptin, which is the hormone that regulates your appetite. This is the hormone that tells you it’s time to stop eating. But a lack of sleep dysregulates the levels of leptin in your body. This is because leptin peaks while you sleep, so a lack of sleep will affect how the hormone is released.

If not enough leptin is released, your brain will always feel that you are hungry. That’s why you will get more cravings when you are tired. Secondly, sleeplessness affects ghrelin, the hormone that tells your brain you are hungry. Your ghrelin levels can skyrocket even if you lose one night of sleep. You will feel like you are always hungry and can reach for snacks multiple times a day.

Lastly, insomnia affects the levels of insulin in your body. Insulin is a hormone responsible for fat storage, and responding to carbohydrate intake. If your insulin levels are too high, your body will store too much fat without a good reason. This fat can start accumulating around your organs, becoming dangerous for your health. And, when you don’t get enough sleep, your insulin levels rise, putting you at risk.

There is no way to control your hormones other than making sure you don’t do anything to imbalance them. And, naturally, that means getting the recommended amount of sleep.

Final Thoughts On How Sleep Loss Impacts Food Cravings

Sleep is an essential part of everyone’s life, and the quality of your sleep significantly impacts your health. It affects everything from energy levels to mood, appetite, and mental well-being. But the relationship between food and sleep is often overlooked. Losing some sleep may not seem like a big deal, but it can affect your cravings. People’s relationship with food is already complicated enough, so adding sleep disruption to the mic doesn’t help.

When you don’t get enough sleep, your brain starts signaling to the primal parts of your brain that something is wrong. Your brain responds to rewards more than normal, which triggers cravings. Because your brain needs more energy to function when it’s deprived of sleep, it needs more calories.

Plus, tiredness clouds your senses and makes specific receptors in your brain malfunction. Coupled with the fact that lack of sleep leads to a hormonal imbalance, your body will start receiving mixed signals regarding food. If you want to avoid craving sweet or junk food, ensure you get at least the recommended eight hours of sleep per night.