3 Reasons Why Sleepy People Consume More Calories

Are you dragging through the day with lazy eyes, only to reach for a sugary or salty snack to give you an energy boost?

This lack of energy is one of the reasons why so many sleepy people tend to have unhealthy eating habits. If you find yourself lagging behind, here are three reasons why you will have the urge to consume more calories.

3. No Z’s Leads to More Carbs

When your body is in sleep deprivation mode, you will naturally start craving more carbohydrates.

To get that instant kick of energy, most people will turn to foods with higher amounts of simple carbs (the bad carbs). These are foods like doughnuts, which usually contain a ton of sugar. These foods usually only give you a burst of energy that lasts 30-45 minutes, before you crash down hard.

A lack of sleep makes it difficult for your body to keep the hormones leptin and ghrelin in balance. Ghrelin stimulates appetite, while leptin suppresses it. Sleeplessness causes an imbalance in these hormones, causing your metabolism to slow down and your appetite to increase.

In a well-rested brain, these hormones are released in balance with each other to stimulate normal feelings of hunger. If you don’t get enough z’s, ghrelin levels go up and leptin levels go down, causing your food cravings to go into overdrive.

This makes you more likely to reach for the carbs, and less likely to reach for something healthier.

If you are sleepy during the day, and need a boost of energy, choose a high protein snack with a serving of good carbs. BistroMD has plenty of great options that can help you get through the day. To see some of the snacks we offer, visit our menu.

2. A Sleepless Routine Means More Weight Gain

Even if you do eat a healthy diet, not getting enough sleep can still slow down your weight loss.

If sleepless nights are part of your daily routine, your appetite will constantly be in limbo. This can then lead to a slower metabolism, making it more difficult to maintain healthy weight loss.

Although there is no certain proof linking obesity to sleep deprivation, researchers and physicians alike have noticed that Americans are sleeping less and eating more. This trend suggests a growing link between sleep, appetite regulation, and obesity.

If you don’t want to fall into this trend, it's important that you get at least 7 hours of restful sleep each night.

1. The Grueling Cycle of Life

Once you get in the rut of running off little to no sleep, your body adjusts, making it more difficult to eat healthy.

If you stay up until all hours of the night, chances are, you may order a large cup of coffee the next morning instead of a smaller size. If you stay up late the next night, you may oversleep, and find you don’t have time to eat breakfast. You either make a pit stop at a drive-thru, or skip breakfast entirely.

These small habits lead to more unhealthy habits.

Before you know it, you are eating only one meal per day, and snacking on foods that are high in sugar and fat to give you energy to work your 12 hour shift. The bottom line is: you can’t let life get in the way of your health.

Not only does sleep directly affect our emotional and mental well-being, but it keeps us from getting sick and worn down.

A lack of sleep weakens our immune system, simply because our bodies are too tired to fight off the bad stuff, like viruses.

This is why sleep is so important for weight loss and for your overall health.

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