Better Sleep Equals Less Appetite

If you want to control your appetite, you have got to get to bed on time, according to this new study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

The study shows that the part of the brain that controls the appetite is very affected by how much snoozin' we do.

"After a night of total sleep loss, these males showed a high level of activation in an area of the brain that is involved in a desire to eat. Bearing in mind that insufficient sleep is a growing problem in modern society, our results may explain why poor sleep habits can affect people's risk to gain weight in the long run. It may therefore be important to sleep about eight hours every night to maintain a stable and healthy body weight," Christian Benedict of Uppsala University, one of the authors, wrote.

It's a big coincidence that this study came out this week. I have been having a really really hard time getting to sleep this week, and I have found myself snacking all day long. There is a lot going on in the newsroom that makes it hard to clear my head. I have been going to sleep anytime between 11:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., and then struggling to wake up at my normal 6 or 6:30. For example, I still haven't made it to work today and it is past 9, and I didn't even work out this morning. And more often than usual, I find myself thinking about how hungry I am, or snacking on something that I normally wouldn't. Maybe this weekend I will try to hit the hay a bit earlier.