Lack of sleep linked to carb cravings

[n2doc]

By Jeannine Stein, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog
June 14, 2011, 3:44 p.m.
A lack of sleep could be causing you to do more than nod off at work--it could be making you long for carbs and rich foods.

Two studies presented this week at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies meeting in Minneapolis show that being sleepy could affect our desire for carb-heavy foods. One study focused on 262 high school seniors who answered surveys on sleepiness, carb cravings, and depression.


Researchers discovered that as daytime sleepiness became more acute, so did a craving for carbs. Teens who had extreme daytime sleepiness had a 50% higher chance of also having a powerful jones for carbs.

A link with depression was found as well: Study participants who were very depressed were nearly three times more likely to have a big hankering for carbs.

more

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-sleep-carbs-20110614,0,2761784.story

[cutlassmama]

1. No wonder people who have sleep apnea are overweight.

[FirstLight]

2. not just in teens...

how about late night eating, sleep disturbances, depression etc associated with unemployment.

hate to say it, but I seriously feel the same way alot of the time

[Lex]

3. For me, the converse is true as well. The more carbs I eat, the sleepier

I am. White pasta, bread, rice, sugary stuff, all make me feel slow and sleepy.

[SheilaT]

4. at the risk of being snarky,

this is not exactly breaking news. It's long been observed that people who are short of sleep often eat more. It's a common problem with those who work graveyard shifts, in no small part because too many who work such shifts then try to revert to "regular" hours on their days off, and so never adapt to their actual working hours, and are very sleep deprived all the time.

[uppityperson]

5. Snacking kept me awake graveyard shift.

[wishlist]

6. Natural for a tired person to crave food in order to gain more energy nt

[srobens]

7. Sleep

Now that is interesting: I moved to Italy where we eat pasta everyday...after a while I would say, "Basta Pasta!" But now I know why I sleep better! I guess I will not curse the pasta anymore!