How lack of sleep affects your...

DIGESTION AND WEIGHT…

Going to bed 75 minutes earlier each night helps you consume 270 fewer calories each day

We’ve already established that disrupted sleep can throw off your digestion, but as the University of Chicago’s research shows, it can also have an impact on weight loss and weight gain.

“Sleep plays a very important role in controlling our appetite hormones,” says Dr Guy Meadows. “It helps to balance out levels of ghrelin, the hormone which controls hunger, and the satiety hormone, leptin. When we are well-rested we can manage our hunger better, and we feel full at the right point.” But without sleep, not only are we more likely to eat more food, but we’re also likely to eat worse food.

“Poor sleep impacts the brain areas responsible for choosing food,” says Dr Meadows. “It means we’re more likely to look for instantaneous energy-release foods, while the sensible bit of the brain that helps with willpower is less likely to stop us making those decisions.”

Little wonder then that when you’re exhausted you can’t get enough sweet and fatty foods, and why long-term sleep deprivation is correlated with obesity.

You may know that a lack of sleep boosts levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. Well, cortisol also has

an impact on your body composition. Not only is there evidence that high levels of cortisol can cause us to build up abdominal fat, but Dr Kinsella also says that it can break down muscle tissue – and the less muscle you have, the fewer calories you burn, meaning you’re more likely to put on weight.

Then there’s the fact that, as Dr Meadows explains, “even partial sleep deprivation over one night increases insulin resistance, which can in turn increase blood sugar levels”. As a result, a lack of sleep has been associated with diabetes, a blood-sugar disorder.