Research paper
Nedeltcheva AV, Kilkus JM, Imperial J, Kasza K, Schoeller DA, Penev PD. Sleep curtailment is accompanied by increased intake of calories from snacks. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2009;89(1):126-133. doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.26574. PMID: 19056602. PMCID: PMC2615460.
Why we cite it
Laboratory study demonstrating exactly how sleep loss changes eating behavior — not through larger meals but through increased snacking, particularly in the evening and nighttime hours when sleep-restricted people are awake longer. Published in one of the top nutrition journals, this study provides the behavioral complement to the hormonal findings from the same lab (csh03): while Spiegel et al. (2004) showed that sleep restriction alters leptin and ghrelin, this study shows the actual eating consequence — more snacks, more carbohydrates, more calories, primarily after 7pm. Critically, the hormone changes (leptin, ghrelin) were not significant in this study, suggesting the behavioral pathway may operate through mechanisms beyond the classical appetite hormones — possibly through reward-seeking, reduced inhibitory control, or simply more waking hours with food access.