Lack of sleep leads to obesity — Study

A man suffering from insomnia.
| credits: google.com

GBENGA ADENIJI examines the findings of a new study which links insomnia to obesity

A recent study has suggested that individuals who experience difficulty in sleeping are likely to eat junk food which in turn leads to weight gain.

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, United States, using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, scanned the brains of 23 healthy young adults, first after a normal night’s sleep and next, after a sleepless night.

They also measured brain activity as participants watched a series of 80 food images ranging from the ones containing high-to low-calorie. Besides, the participants graded their desire for each of the items even as each of them was given the food they craved after the MRI scan.

Some of the 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.

The study indicates that the team found impaired activity in the sleep-deprived brain’s frontal lobe, which governs complex decision-making, but increased activity in deeper brain centre that responds to rewards. Furthermore, in the study published in Nature Communications journal, the participants favoured unhealthy snack and junk foods when they lacked a good sleep.

The study’s senior author, Prof. Matthew Walker, said the study discovered that high-level brain regions needed for sound judgments and decisions become affected due to sleep deprivation.

He said, ‘’What we have discovered is that high-level brain regions required for complex judgments and decisions become blunted by a lack of sleep, while more primal brain structures that control motivation and desire are amplified. Moreover, high-calorie foods also became significantly more desirable when participants were sleep-deprived. This combination of altered brain activity and decision-making may help explain why people who sleep less also tend to be overweight or obese.”

Walker further stated that past studies had linked sleeplessness to increased appetite for food especially sweet and salty food.

“Previous studies have linked poor sleep to greater appetites, particularly for sweet and salty foods, but the latest findings provide a specific brain mechanism explaining why food choices change for the worse following a sleepless night. On a positive note, the findings indicate that getting enough sleep is one factor that can help promote weight control by priming the brain mechanisms,” he added.

Commenting on the study, a private medical practitioner, Dr. Austin Aipoh, said the findings could be applicable to white people and not blacks.

He added that when a black man was deprived of sleep, he would likely be battling with a low spirit and restlessness among other medical challenges.

Aipoh said, ‘‘I think the study is relevant among the white. If a black man is suffering from insomnia, tendency are that he will be experiencing low spirit, stress and other conditions associated with sleep deprivation. He will not be eating junk food like the study suggests. In fact, junk food is not common to our eating culture as Africans. In a situation where there is a case of sleep deprivation, the individual will witness negative conditions rather than positive ones like weight gain as the study finds.’’

Also, associate professor and acting head, Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Dr. Francis Duru, stated that sleep deprivation or lack of quality sleep could have a negative impact on the energy level, physical and mental health of an individual.

According to him, generally people tend to sleep well when they are in good health, but when there is an underlying physical or mental health problem, sleep may be disturbed mildly or severely.

He said, ‘‘Normal sleep is required for the cells of the body to repair, regenerate and heal. Lack of sleep over a long period is much like riding your car indefinitely without servicing it. If all you do is to fuel your car, eventually the engine would break down or even knock.  Sleep deprivation will cause many symptoms which will include stress, anxiety and depression. It is these symptoms that may give rise to over-eating and therefore weight gain that may be noticed in insomniacs.”

He further added a vicious cycle could be triggered off because the three identified symptoms: stress, anxiety and depression are at the same time causes and consequences of sleep deprivation.

Duru stated that weight gain results in sleep deprivation mainly because there was a tendency for the sufferers to over eat.