Lack of concentration and alertness may be attributed to late night snacking, according to researchers at the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at UPenn.
Night owls may often raid the fridge around midnight, but researchers say that can be counter-intuitive to productivity.
“Adults consume approximately 500 additional calories during late-night hours when they are sleep restricted,” senior investigator David F. Dinges. “Our research found that refraining from late-night calories helps prevent some of the decline those individuals may otherwise experience in neurobehavioral performance during sleep restriction.”
To understand how late night snacking affects your ability to focus, researchers gathered 44 healthy adults between the ages of 21 and 50 and put their theory to a test. Participants were given unlimited access to food and drink during the day, but they were only allowed to have 4 hours of sleep for 3 nights. On the fourth night, half of the group was able to have continued access to food and drinks, while the other half was only allowed to drink water after 10:00 pm until they went to sleep at 4:00 am. All participants were asked to perform a variety of tests at 2:00 am that tested their memory, cognitive skills, sleepiness, stress level and mood.
Sleep Study Results
After comparing the data from the fourth night, researchers discovered:
- The group who fasted on the fourth night preformed better on the reaction time tests and had fewer lapses in attention than their eating counterparts.
- Late night eaters showed significantly slower reactions times and more attention lapses on the fourth night compared to the first three nights.
The study suggest that late night fasting “attenuates the performance decrement on vigilant attention caused by sleep restriction,” said Dr. Andrew Spaeth, who worked on the study. “This study also supports that the sleep–wake system and energy-balance system interact, so there is cross-talk between these two systems.”
Dr. Speath added that the findings could prove beneficial for people who work during odd hours or night owls who are up at odd times.
“For people in fields that require vigilant attention late at night, like truck drivers, one possible strategy may be to time when who eats and how much you eat,” said Dr. Spaeth. “We need more studies, but it is an interesting possibility.”
Dr. Silverman Comments
Give up the midnight snack, as it will help you concentrate on your activities. If you don’t need to be concentrating or alert, you should probably just head to bed instead of the refrigerator.
Not only can late night eating affect your focus, but it can also lead to weight gain, as you probably aren’t as active late at night. Give up the late night snacks, and your body will thank you for it.
Related source: Medscape