The MUNCHIES: What too little sleep and marijuana have in common

If you read our manifesto, The Little Book of Thin, from cover to cover like you better have (wink wink), you know sleep is one of Lauren’s 10 Steps to Svelte. When you sleep your hunger hormones recalibrate. We’ve known that less sleep generally means more hunger but a recent study found that sleep deprivation could trigger eating similar to the “marijuana munchies”.  Uh oh. 

In the study, participants slept for different amounts of time (8.5 hours vs 4.5 hours). On the 4.5-hour nights, subjects report significantly higher scores for hunger and a stronger desire to eat. On the sleep-deprived nights, they ate about 400 more calories and almost twice as much fat when they were given access to a buffet full of cookies, chips and candy.

What does this have to do with POT?

Sleep deprivation produces higher peaks of a lipid in our bloodstream known as an endocannabinoid that seems to make eating more pleasurable – our endocannabinoid system is the same one targeted by the active ingredient in weed. “Sleep restriction boosts a signal that may increasethe hedonic aspect of food intake”… Yup, too little sleep and you’re basically stoney baloney … without the fun.

So what should you do? Aim for 7+ hours of sleep per night and turn off those screens to avoid the “MunchieZZZZ” (props to the NY Post for that pun). And for our Non-religious lent, Lauren’s committed to going to bed earlier, join us for #NRL, it’s not too late!

How much sleep do you typically get a night? Have you noticed “munchieZZZ” when you sleep suffers? Do you still  get stoney baloney?