As if being tired from lack of sleep wasn’t punishment enough, now scientists say that not getting a good night’s rest could lead to obesity.
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, found that sleep deprived volunteers ate more calories.
The researchers studied 17 normal, healthy young men and women for eight nights, with half of the participants sleeping normally and half sleeping only two-thirds their normal time.
Food for thought: Lack of sleep can make you eat more (file picture)
Participants ate as much as they wanted during the study.
‘We tested whether lack of sleep altered the levels of the hormones leptin and ghrelin [which are associated with appetite], increased the amount of food people ate and affected energy burned through activity,’ said Virend Somers, study author and professor of medicine and cardiovascular disease at the Mayo Clinic.
The sleep deprived group, who slept one hour and 20 minutes less than the control group each day consumed an average 549 additional calories each day.
Meanwhile, the amount of energy used for activity didn't significantly change between groups, suggesting that those who slept less didn't burn additional calories.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2115583/The-sleep-fatter-Tiredness-makes-eat-say-scientists.html#ixzz1pDrvhv8T
