The easiest way to curb junk food cravings

You are not alone if you crave fried foods and sugary treats! In fact, the reasons for junk food cravings are often studied because so many people experience them. The latest research may surprise you, but even better, it could help you lose weight effortlessly!

A study from UC Berkeley examined the brain regions that control food choices and found a link between poor sleep and food cravings.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers scanned the brains of 23 healthy young adults, first after a normal night's sleep and next, after a sleepless night.

They found impaired activity in the sleep-deprived brain's frontal lobe, which governs complex decision-making, but increased activity in deeper brain centres that respond to rewards. Researchers also found that the participants favoured unhealthy snack and junk foods when they were sleep deprived.

Sleep deprivation and junk food cravings

"What we have discovered is that the high-level brain regions required for complex judgements and decisions become blunted by a lack of sleep, while more primal brain structures that control motivation and desire are amplified," said Matthew Walker, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and neuroscience and senior author of the study.

According to Walker, this combination of altered brain activity and decision-making may help explain why people who sleep less also tend to be overweight or obese.

Sleepy eyes are bigger than the tummy

Researchers measured brain activity as participants viewed a series of 80 food images that ranged from high- to low-calorie and healthy and unhealthy, and rated their desire for each of the items. As an incentive, they were given the food they most craved after the MRI scan.

Food choices presented in the experiment ranged from fruits and vegetables, such as strawberries, apples and carrots, to high-calorie burgers, pizza and doughnuts. The latter are examples of the more popular choices following a sleepless night.

On a positive note, Walker said, the findings indicate that "getting enough sleep is one factor that can help promote weight control, by priming the brain mechanisms governing appropriate food choices."

So if you are struggling to lose weight and often stay up late, curb those junk food cravings simply by calling it a night and getting into bed a little earlier this evening.

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