New Delhi: Restricting sleep for just four days alters how the body metabolizes fats and changes how satisfying meals seem, according to a new study with 15 healthy men. When we don’t get enough sleep, we want to eat more than we need, and store it as excess energy, says Orfeu Buxton, professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State.
Researchers show that higher insulin levels after an evening meal result in the faster clearance of lipids (fats), which can then lead to weight gain. Fifteen participants, all healthy men in their 20s, spent 10 nights living in a suite in the Clinical During those nights in the lab, participants ate a high-fat, calorie-dense meal of chili and pasta, then slept no more than five hours each night for four consecutive nights. Most of the participants reported they felt less satisfied after eating the same meal while sleep-deprived, than when they had eaten it well-rested.
