Workaholics take heed: a recent study suggests that missing out on sleep may make high-calorie and fatty foods harder to resist during the daytimeSleepiness May Impair the Brain’s Inhibitory Control When Viewing High-Calorie Foods. American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Killgore, W., Weiner, M., Schwab, Z. June 13, 2011.. No wonder glazed doughnuts sing that siren song every morning…

Junk Food Goggles – Analysis

In the study, researchers presented 12 healthy adults, ages 19 to 45, with photographs of low- and high-calorie foods over a four-minute period. Researchers found that faced with images of strawberry cheesecake, French fries, and other enticing eats, sleepier subjects exhibited lower activity in the prefrontal cortex — the inhibitory area of the brainSleepiness May Impair the Brain’s Inhibitory Control When Viewing High-Calorie Foods. American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Killgore, W., Weiner, M., Schwab, Z. June 13, 2011.. Hence, why the junk food guard comes tumbling down.

But do troubling food choices occur at sluggish or straight-up comatose states? In this study, participants weren’t chronically sleep-deprived. Instead, they displayed the usual tiredness that comes with staying up an hour or two past their bedtime. But this all-too-common behavior, data shows, can lessen inhibitory control enough to make it hard to say no to that extra cookie or slice of pieSleepiness May Impair the Brain’s Inhibitory Control When Viewing High-Calorie Foods. American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Killgore, W., Weiner, M., Schwab, Z. June 13, 2011..

Slacking on sleep, of course, can wreak havoc on more that just the scale, studies show, including increased likelihood of anxiety disorders, skewed judgment when assessing risk, as well as hindered learning ability and productivityOvernight Therapy? The Role of Sleep in Emotional Brain Processing. Els van der Helm, Walker, MP. Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley California. Psychological Bulletin 2009 Sept; 135(5): 731–748.Wake deterioration and sleep restoration of human learning. Mander, BA., Santhanam, S., Saletin, et al. Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California. Current Biology 2011 Mar 8; 21(5):R183-4.. Maybe turning in early is worth the effort after all.

TL;DR

A study suggests that lack of shut-eye makes fatty foods harder to resist.