Lack of Sleep, Hunger and Gender

When they don’t get enough sleep, women feel less full and men have a bigger appetite, according to a recent issue of the journal SLEEP. Twenty-seven normal-weight men and women (aged 30–45) were studied under short-sleep (4 hours) and habitual-sleep (9 hours) conditions. After a short night’s sleep, fasting blood samples indicated that fasting and morning ghrelin levels rose in men, while afternoon GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide) levels fell in women. Sleep duration had no effect on insulin, glucose and leptin profiles.

“These data suggest that, in the context of negative energy balance, short sleep does not lead to a state of increased insulin resistance, but may predispose to overeating via separate mechanisms in men and women,” the study authors concluded.