https://www.nhs.

uk/news/lifestyle-and-exercise/can-lack-sleep-make-you-crave-junk-food/

Can a lack of sleep make you crave junk

food?
Tuesday December 18 2018

Page contents

1. Where did the story come from?

2. What kind of research was this?
3. What did the research involve?
4. What were the basic results?
5. How did the researchers interpret the results?
6. Conclusion

"Even one night without sleep leads people to view junk food more favourably, research
suggests," The Guardian reports.

A small study wanted to find out if not sleeping enough made people hungrier and more
likely to eat junk food compared with people who slept normally.

The researchers carried out a series of tests on 32 healthy volunteers who were either
allowed to sleep normally or made to stay awake all night.

The researchers then used brain scans to look at areas of the brain associated with
appetite and cravings.

They also carried out what's known as an auction task, where the volunteers had the
option of bidding a small amount of euros on either a series of high-calorie snacks or
household items.

The results suggest that when sleep deprived, the volunteers had brain signals associated
with appetite. They were also more likely to choose to bid higher amounts on snacks.

Sleep-deprived participants also had higher levels of a hormone known to control

hunger. Both sleep-deprived and non-sleep-deprived groups reported similar levels of
hunger in the morning.

This study adds to the growing body of evidence showing a link between poor sleep and
weight gain.

But there are many other factors besides sleep that can affect weight. And the small size
of the study suggests the results may not be reliable.
If you're concerned about your sleep, or would like tips on how to improve it, find out
how to get to sleep.

Where did the story come from?

The study was carried out by researchers from 3 German Universities, the University of
Birmingham in the UK, and 2 neurological research centres also in Germany.

It was funded by a German research organisation called Deutsche

Forschungsgemeinschaft.

The study was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Neuroscience.

Coverage of the study by The Guardian and the Mail Online was broadly accurate.

But the Mail's reporting could have benefited from highlighting the study's small sample
size, which means the results may not be representative of larger populations.

What kind of research was this?

This experimental study involved male participants undergoing a series of tests related
to diet, sleep and brain activity.

In these kinds of studies, researchers try to create artificial study environments, in this
case testing specific diet and sleep plans in controlled conditions.

This study doesn't have a control group, however, which means it isn't a randomised
controlled trial.

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are the best kind of experimental study as they're
less susceptible to confounding.

It could be the case that for this study, the use of expensive brain scanning equipment
meant the study had to be kept on a small experimental level for practical reasons.

What did the research involve?

The researchers wanted to understand how sleep loss may be related to eating more food
and gaining weight.

They recruited 32 healthy men, aged 19 to 33, with a body mass index (BMI) between
21 to 26.

They performed several sleep- and food-related experiments on them using a series of
high-resolution MRI brain scans, blood tests to assess the hormone levels in the blood,
and asked them questions about hunger levels.
All the participants visited a clinic for 3 different appointments: 1 screening
appointment and 2 experimental sessions with either a normal or sleep-deprived night
separated by 1 week.

The first appointment was a screening session, where the participants were invited to the
clinic to learn about what the study would entail, and to undergo body measurements.

The participants weren't told whether they'd be having a normal night's sleep or were
going to be sleep deprived on their first experimental visit to the clinic.

This was to prevent volunteers possibly trying to "top up" their sleep in advance by
sleeping before visiting the clinic.

The participants then underwent their first experimental session, starting at 8pm where
they all ate the same meal.

Then some participants were allowed to have a normal night's sleep at home, and some
participants were kept awake. Neither of the groups were allowed to eat or drink during
the night.

The participants that had a normal night's sleep were fitted with a sensor to measure
sleep and wake times until the next morning, then sent home and instructed to return in
the morning for an MRI scan of the brain.

Those in the sleep-deprived group stayed at the clinic and spent the whole night awake
playing games and watching movies.

Both groups were asked to rate how hungry they were the following morning using a 7-
point likert scale.

This was then followed by a task where they were asked how much money they'd be
willing to pay for some snacks and non-food items. They were then invited to bid
money on these items.

Lastly, each participant had a blood sample taken to measure the levels of hormones
responsible for controlling hunger.

What were the basic results?

The researchers found participants rated themselves similarly hungry in the morning
whether they were sleep deprived or not.

The sleep deprived participants had higher levels of a hormone known to control hunger
compared with the group that had slept normally.

In the bidding activity, participants were willing to spend more money on food when
their sleep was deprived, compared with when they had normal a normal night's sleep.

The results from MRI scans for each volunteer showed similar results. Participants that
were sleep deprived, showed more signals from the part of the brain responsible for
controlling decision making and emotional responses, combined with signals from the
part of the brain responsible for releasing hormones that control hunger.

There was no noticeable link between hunger levels and changes in the level of hunger
controlling hormones. This would suggest that perceived hunger was not due to
hormonal factors.

How did the researchers interpret the results?

The researchers state that "the results indicate that increased food valuation after sleep
loss is due to hedonic [reward-seeking] rather than hormonal mechanisms. They go onto
state that a full night's sleep compared to a sleep deprived night, increased the subjective
value of snack food rewards compared to non-food rewards".

Conclusion

This interesting study used a combination of behavioural and biological tests to

determine whether being sleep deprived, made people more likely to reward themselves
with food. The study uses validated methods to assess people's food related behaviours
and uses state of the art MRI scanning to show the difference in brain activity following
a sleep deprived and a normal night's sleep.

Despite uncovering some interesting results, there are limitations.

Firstly, the sample size for this study was very small, using just 32 men who were
healthy and lean which also reduces the relevance of this sample to the whole
population.

There was no control group in the experiment. This can introduce bias, because
participants are less likely to act normally when they know they are in an experiment.

In a person's normal routine, sleep deprivation building up over a week or a longer

period is more of a realistic problem, whereas this experiment only measured sleep
deprivation over 1 night, which does not represent sleep deprivation over time. This can
introduce bias, as it is not realistic of the general population's sleep deprivation.

The measure of sleep quality in this study was subjective, and was not monitored in
detail, therefore there may have been variation between the participants in terms of what
a good night's sleep entailed. For some people this could be 7 hours sleep and for others
it can be 10-12 hours.

The links between poor sleep and weight gain have been studied in detail before, and
sleep is known to be a risk factor. However for future studies that want to investigate
the behavioural responses to sleep deprivation in detail, larger sample sizes are needed,
including both men and women, with control groups and better measures of sleep
quality.

Feeling hungry is not the only potential side effect of poor sleep. A lack of
concentration, risk of injury and accidents on the road are some other risks. Read more
about why a lack of sleep can be bad for your health.
Analysis by Bazian
Edited by NHS Website