Ayo, peep this, fam. Like 75 million adults in Canada and the US be strugglin’ with sleep issues, ya feel me? And almost 40% of them be straight up dozin’ off unexpectedly at least once a month, disruptin’ their mental game when it comes to work, school, drivin’, and social life. And yo, listen up, cuz you might end up packin’ on dem pounds ’cause studies be showin’ that sleep deprivation can give you the munchies like when you smoke that green.
So check it, previous research been sayin’ that not gettin’ enough shut-eye can make you crave junk food and snacks at night. But then this study dropped in the eLife journal and was like, nah, it ain’t just about the nighttime snacking. It’s about how sleep deprivation messes with the neural pathways in your body that make you want them high-calorie eats. When you only get four hours of sleep instead of the recommended eight, it triggers certain compounds in your body’s endocannabinoid system that make you crave them fattening foods.
Now, let me break it down for you. The endocannabinoid system, or ECS for short, be in charge of a bunch of biological processes like sleep, hunger, body temperature, and more. Every mammal got an ECS, not just us humans. This system gets regulated by endocannabinoids that your body makes naturally, kinda like how weed got them phytocannabinoids. So when you light up that blunt, it activates them receptors in your body that make you wanna munch on some calorie-packed snacks. And sleep deprivation works in the same way, holler!
To start off this study, researchers had 25 peeps gettin’ 7 to 9 hours of sleep for a week. Then they split ’em up and had half of ’em only gettin’ four hours of sleep on some nights while the other half kept to the regular schedule. And then they had all these folks hit up a buffet where they could eat whatever they wanted while the researchers watched what they chowed down on.
Now peep this pic of some bomb-lookin’ pizza cuz sleep deprivation ain’t makin’ these folks eat more food, but it’s makin’ ’em choose those fatty and high-calorie options. The study was like yo, even after a night of catchin’ up on sleep, these peeps still ended up eatin’ more calories than before.
And yo, check this out – scientists was trackin’ these peeps brains with fMRI scans during the study to see how their sense of smell was affected by sleep deprivation. They hit ’em with different smells and found out that those who didn’t get enough Z’s had way stronger reactions to food smells than anything else.
The researchers said, “Our findings show that sleep-dependent changes in food choices are associated with changes in an olfactory pathway related to the ECS. This pathway ain’t just about what you eat after skippin’ out on sleep but could also play a role in your food choices overall.” So like, this study could help find new ways to treat obesity by targetin’ these pathways.
So there you have it fam, gettin’ enough sleep ain’t just about feelin’ rested – it’s about keepin’ them munchies at bay and makin’ better food choices overall. So next time you think about pullin’ an all-nighter, remember that it might pack on them extra pounds instead of keepin’ you sharp like a tack. Stay woke and get your beauty rest!