Sleep deprivation may cause people to eat more calories

Sleep deprivation may result in people consuming more calories during the following day, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis led by researchers at King's College London. The meta‑analysis combined the results of many previous small intervention studies to produce a more robust answer and found that sleep-deprived people consumed an average of 385 kcal per day extra, which is equivalent to the calories of about four and a half slices of bread. The study, published today in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition , combined the results of 11 studies with a total of 172 participants. The analysis included studies that compared a partial sleep restriction intervention with an unrestricted sleep control and measured the individuals' energy intake over the next 24 hours. They found partial sleep deprivation did not have a significant effect on how much energy people expended in the subsequent 24 hours. Therefore, participants had a net energy gain of 385 calories per day. The researchers also found there was a small shift in what sleep deprived people ate - they had proportionately higher fat and lower protein intakes, but no change in carbohydrate intake.