'' ZzZzZzZ… what? – Me, sleeping in front of my computer while writing this article because I clearly lack sleep ''
Who am I to talk? As I’m writing these lines, I’ve had an average of 5 hours of sleep a night for the past several months. The joy of entrepreneurship. But at the same time, this whole sleep deprivation makes me able to tell you the truth: My cravings are way more frequent when I’m not sleeping enough.
Sleep And Appetite
On top of affecting your energy, hormones, recovery, performance, etc., lack of sleep is shown to:
- Stimulate your appetite
- Worsen glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity – which means that you don’t feel as full eating the same foods and that you’ll be more likely to store fat
- Increases your brain’s susceptibility to food stimuli
When you don’t sleep enough and wake up hungry, I highly suggest you break the cycle by having a breakfast that contains both fat and protein, like eggs with pasture-raised bacon or sausages.
How To Fix Night Cravings
If you wake up in the middle of the night and crave certain foods, you probably have a night-eating syndrome.While this sounds scary, it simply means that your leptin and ghrelin hormones – important appetite regulators – are phased forward by a couple hours and that you get hungry ahead of what you should. Some researchers hypothesize that this condition is closely related to an overstressed body. Here are some tricks to fix it:
- Don’t fast and don’t skip meals (even if you’re a fan of intermittent fasting)
- Eat a big breakfast comprised of both protein and fat
- Eat 3-4 meals a day, but don’t snack throughout the day
- Reduce your sugar intake, which can disrupt your leptin hormone
- If you train a lot, reduce your volume for 1 or 2 weeks
- Stretch more – a good relaxation session is shown to reduce late night eating
- Get some sun or use a light therapy device – this is shown to reduce sleep problems
How To Sleep Better
A good night of sleep is closely related to your environment. Always make sure that…
- You get off electronic devices 2 hours before bed (watching a lighted screen will screw up your sleep cycle)
- You never keep electronic devices in your room, even your cellphone
- You relax or meditate daily
- You go to bed earlier
- You sleep in a pitch dark room
- You avoid caffeine after 3 PM
- You reduce the temperature in your bedroom – between 60 and 68°F seems like the sweet spot
If you still have problems sleeping even when changing your habits, consider supplementing with melatonin for a while. Never rely solely on supplementation, though.
Summary
--> Lack of sleep will increase your appetite dramatically.
--> To sleep better, reduce your stress and create the right environment.
