If you like to stay up late you’re way more likely to have an unhealthy diet, according to results of a study being presented at SLEEP 2016 – the 30th Anniversary Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC, held in Denver, CO.

Sleeping late is linked with poor diet in a new study.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in every 3 Americans do not get enough sleep.

If you are 18-60 years old, you should have at least 7 hours sleep a night in order to stay healthy. This is according to The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.

When you don’t get enough sleep you are more likely to develop a range of chronic conditions, including diabetes, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and mental health problems.

And just sleeping in is not the answer. Previous research has indicated that people who sleep late have a higher body mass index (BMI), poorer diet and are less likely to exercise. Although this study did not factor in biological markers or circadian measures,

at least one study has shown that without enough sleep, you tend to be hungrier and eat more.

Fast food consumption correlates with sleeping time

The habits of 96 healthy adults aged between 18-50 were measured in a careful study led by Kelly Glazer Baron, Ph.D., associate professor of neurology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL.

Subjects were tracked and their general habits were recorded for 7 days. Wrist actigraphy was used to measure their sleep, kept food diaries to measure how many calories they consumed and what kind of foods they were eating. SenseWear arm bands were used to measure their physical activity.

Circadian rhythms by assessing dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) were the units of measurement. They evaluated levels of body fat by using dual axis absorptiometry (DXA).

Sex, age, sleep efficiency, and sleep duration of participants was factored into the results.

The findings indicate that among healthy adults, sleeping late does not necessarily lead to a higher BMI, intake of calories, or physical activity, but it is linked with a lower quality diet – fast food consumption in particular.

Dr. Wayne Giles, director of CDC’s Division of Population Health, comments that Americans do not get enough sleep.

Switching off or moving televisions, computers, and mobile devices out of the bedroom, as well as sticking to healthy habits, such as regular times for going to bed and getting up in the morning is highly recommended.

Participants in the study who stayed up late ate fewer vegetables than those who hit the hay earlier. They also had lower levels of physical activity.

All participants ended up consuming about the same number of calories over the 7 day study. But those who made a habit of late sleep consumed far more “fast food” and the quality of calories consumed was much worse.

If weight loss and a healthy lifestyle is of value to you… please get to bed by 11pm and get at least 7 hours of sleep. The benefits of better nutrition and more exercise are far more important than “burning the midnight oil” – Get your rest!

To your good health!

Drew Avery – Health Investigator

Based on an Article by Yvette Brazier