Lack of sleep intensifies junk food cravings in the same way as marijuana usage, a new study has found.
"Sleep restriction seems to augment the endocannabinoid system, the same system targeted by the active ingredient of marijuana, to enhance the desire for food intake," said Erin Hanlon, study lead and research associate in endocrinology at the University of Chicago,
Today.com reported.
"We know that when people use marijuana, they overeat. And they tend to eat things that are yummy and rewarding…When you activate the cannabinoid system you are exciting the reward system."
The study,
published in the most recent issue of the journal Sleep, specifically looked at a chemical called endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG for short).
The chemical, which is manufactured in the brain, is similar to one found in marijuana, and helps determine pain, pleasure, and appetite.
2-AG levels in the blood usually stay low overnight while people sleep, and slowly rise as we do, and peak in the early afternoon. In the study, volunteers who were sleep deprived saw their 2-AG levels rise higher and remain higher through the evening.
"At the same time where we see people having this lack of ability to inhibit snack intake corresponds to the time that we see an increase in concentrations of circulating endocannabinoids," Hanlon said.
"It corresponds to the same period. It also corresponds to the time people report they feel hungrier."
For the study itself, the researchers asked 14 volunteers in their 20s to spend four-day stretches in a university sleep center. Some volunteers were allowed to sleep for 8.5 hours, while others were woken up after 4.5 hours.
Those that got the lesser amount of sleep overate 1,000 additional calories throughout the day, while those who got adequate sleep overate only 600 calories.
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