How are chronic lack of sleep and excess extra pounds related? It would seem that there is no relationship, but many years of research by scientists have proven an absolutely opposite result. People who systematically lack sleep for two hours a day are more prone to obesity than those who sleep for eight hours. Why is this happening?
To answer this question, scientists conducted an experiment in which 2 groups of people participated, some had a full night's sleep, while others had any sleep disturbances or chronic lack of sleep. After several days of observation, the subjects were placed in an MRI chamber and shown certain foods and dishes. Fully getting enough sleep people preferred fruits and vegetables, and those who suffered from sleep disorders and did not get enough sleep chose fatty and high-calorie foods for a snack. Scientists explain this behavior as follows: those people who do not get enough sleep try to reward themselves with something tasty and high-calorie for a sleepless night. Thus, the participants in the experiment tried to compensate for the energy not received during sleep.
As the experiment continued, it was noted that both groups of participants experience the same physical activity, the former - those who get enough sleep - consume more calories, and the participants of the second group are all deposited in fats. The whole point in this case lies in the hormones that are responsible for our appetite, and there are, in fact, only two of them: leptin, which suppress hunger, and ghrelin, here the effect is absolutely opposite. In people who lack sleep, the level of the hormone ghrelin is constantly increased, which provides a constant feeling of hunger, and the amount of leptin, on the contrary, is reduced, and often people cannot get enough, although they have eaten enough food.
Those who monitor their health should not only properly formulate their diet, but also get enough sleep.
