Undersleep & Overeating
How we sleep can have a significant impact on how we eat. Inadequate sleep can impact hunger hormones and increase overeating throughout the day.
It can also impact the types of foods you choose and how satisfied you feel after eating.
Read on to understand more about how sleep can impact hunger and learn how to improve your sleep habits for better health.
When we sleep better, everything is better!
How Sleep Impacts Hunger
There are two key hormones responsible for hunger: ghrelin and leptin.
Ghrelin is known as the hunger hormone, as it is responsible for increasing your appetite in attempt to increase your energy intake, generally present before you have a meal. Leptin is however the opposite, as it helps to reduce your appetite when you are satiated.
A lack of sleep will tend to increase levels of ghrelin and reduce leptin, resulting in increasing your appetite and can lead to overeating.
How Sleep Impacts Food Choices
Research has shown that a lack of sleep makes people hungrier the next day, and that sleepy brains may crave high-calorie foods by making them seem more alluring.
When we don’t sleep enough, or don’t sleep well enough, it increases the reward system’s responsiveness to food cues, and we often end up eating more calories.
It doesn’t make us think about the future costs of eating, but rather the current benefits. It also nudges us to become less faithful to our daily goals, such as eating healthy food.
Tips For Improving Your Sleep
- Reduce blue light exposure
- Limit caffeine and alcohol
- Try to sleep and wake at the same time
- Take a melatonin supplement
- Optimise your bedroom environment
- A high carb meal eaten ~4hrs before bed may help
- Relax and clear your mind with relaxation techniques
- Take a relaxing bath or shower
- Exercise regularly
- Stretch or self-massage
- Screen free time 30 mins before bed
- Block out blinds or eye mask
- Temperature and humidity: air-con or fan
Although diet and exercise play an important role in our health, improving your sleep will have a positive impact on your food choices and will help you achieve your health goals.
