If you’re sleeping less these days, then you’re probably eating more, a new study reports. Researchers in France monitored the food intake of a group of men after they slept for eight hours and then again after sleeping just four hours.
When they got only half a night of sleep, subjects were not only much hungrier the next day but also ate nearly 600 extra calories than when they had a full night of sleep. Previous studies have shown that sleep-deprived individuals have higher levels of ghrelin, a hormone that makes you hungry, and lower levels of leptin, a hormone that ramps up metabolic rate and curbs hunger.
There’s no better excuse for squeezing in eight hours of sleep.
