People who don’t get enough sleep eat on average 385 kcal more than those who sleep sufficiently. That’s equivalent to about 4 to 5 slices of bread. Additionally, participants with forced sleep deprivation didn’t burn more energy compared to the control group, who were allowed to sleep undisturbed. It also turned out that the sleep-deprived group consumed more fat, less protein, and the same amount of carbohydrates.
These findings come from a large-scale meta-analysis that combined results from 11 studies involving a total of 172 participants. Nutrition expert Gerda Pot from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and King’s College London contributed to this research.
“The main cause of obesity is an imbalance between calorie intake and expenditure,” says Gerda Pot. “This study shows that lack of sleep can contribute to that imbalance. Apparently, there’s wisdom in the English saying: Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy and wise.”
Several possible explanations have been found for increased food intake after sleep deprivation. The part of the brain that stimulates food-seeking behavior was found to be more active. Another explanation is that the internal body clock is disrupted due to lack of sleep. As a result, the ‘hunger hormone’ ghrelin increases, while leptin, the hormone that signals satiety, decreases. Further research is needed to investigate this more thoroughly.
According to Pot, more studies are also needed to understand the long-term effects of chronic sleep deprivation on increased food intake and subsequent weight gain. Additionally, future research could explore whether longer sleep duration helps prevent obesity.