Hate has no home here. Racism and discrimination have no place in our practice. We support the BIPOC community and efforts to create positive sustainable changes in our world. COVID-19: We are committed to keeping our clients, staff, and community as safe as possible and minimize disruptions to care. ALL appointments for the time being will be conducted via TeleHealth.Click Here to Learn About TeleHealth
Recent research adds to what we already know about sleep and health: Too little sleep is harmful to our physical and mental health.
Poor sleep is a symptom of depression. And, poor sleep can cause depression. We also know that poor sleep leads to weight gain, often rapid weight gain.
If you have trouble sleeping, working with a health psychologist can help.
Sleep researchers from the University of Colorado recruited 16 healthy men and women for a two-week experiment tracking sleep, metabolism and eating habits. Nothing was left to chance: the subjects stayed in a special room that allowed researchers to track their metabolism by measuring the amount of oxygen they used and carbon dioxide they produced. Every bite of food was recorded, and strict sleep schedules were imposed.
The goal was to determine how inadequate sleep over just one week — similar to what might occur when students cram for exams or when office workers stay up late to meet a looming deadline — affects a person’s weight, behavior and physiology.
During the first week of the study, half the people were allowed to sleep nine hours a night while the other half stayed up until about midnight and then could sleep up to five hours. Everyone was given unlimited access to food. In the second week, the nine-hour sleepers were then restricted to five hours of sleep a night, while the sleep-deprived participants were allowed an extra four hours.
But even though we burn more calories when we stay awake, losing sleep is not a good way to lose weight. The light sleepers ended up eating far more than those who got nine hours of sleep, and by the end of the first week the sleep-deprived subjects had gained an average of about two pounds.
During the second week, members of the group that had originally slept nine hours also gained weight when they were restricted to just five hours. And the other group began to lose some but not all of the weight gained in that first sleep-deprived week.
Kenneth Wrightdirector of the university’s sleep and chronobiology laboratory, said part of the change was behavioral. Staying up late and skimping on sleep led to not only more eating, but a shift in the type of foods a person consumed.
“We found that when people weren’t getting enough sleep they overate carbohydrates,” he said. “They ate more food, and when they ate food also changed. They ate a smaller breakfast and they ate a lot more after dinner.”
In fact, sleep-deprived eaters ended up eating more calories during after-dinner snacking than in any other meal during the day. Over all, people consumed 6 percent more calories when they got too little sleep. Once they started sleeping more, they began eating more healthfully, consuming fewer carbohydrates and fats. Dr. Wright noted that the effect of sleep deprivation on weight would likely be similar in the real world although it might not be as pronounced as in the controlled environment. The researchers found that insufficient sleep changed the timing of a person’s internal clock, and that in turn appeared to influence the changes in eating habits. “They were awake three hours before their internal nighttime had ended,” Dr. Wright said. “Being awakened during their biological night is probably why they ate smaller breakfasts.”
October 30, 2019|ADHD
Commonwealth Psychology Associates® (CPA) has recently expanded child & adolescent behavioral health services into our North Station office, located…Read More
June 17, 2019|Counseling & Psychotherapy
We have expanded our practice to five offices! We are thrilled and honored to serve the community in our new…Read More
September 18, 2017|Counseling & Psychotherapy
We are pleased to announce that counseling and therapy services in our Newton-Wellesley office have expanded to include Couples &…Read More