In this study, a team of researchers from Michigan State University investigated how sleep influences sugar cravings. They studied 51 healthy men who claimed to sleep well. The participants wore electrodes on their scalps while they slept during their usual nighttime routine over two consecutive nights. These electrodes measured the electrical activity of the participants’ brains to calculate how much sleep they got, as well as the length of time they spent in deep or light sleep.
After that, the men went to the laboratory where they tasted 14 to 18 sugary solutions. They then rated these in order of their preference.
The results showed that the less sleep the participants got, the more they craved sugar. Less time in the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep was also associated with sugar cravings. REM sleep is when the brain is the most active and dreams usually occur.
The research team explained that lack of sleep may activate a brain area that is “turned on” when you consume sweet food. In addition, insomnia may also cause stress eating because of the release of cortisol, the stress hormone...read more>>>...
