- Swollen eyelids, bloodshot eyes, dark circles around the eyes, tired complexion – reducing your nighttime rest is related to the reduction of the deep sleep phase. This means that the body has insufficient time to regenerate and properly manage the hormones it produces. Thus, the dark circles and bloodshot eyes, skin eczema and a gray, tired complexion.
- Gaining weight(1)–lack of the opportunity to properly manage hormones (too short deep sleep phase) contributes to imbalanced production of leptin and ghrelin. The former is responsible for the feeling of fullness, the latter – for the feeling of hunger. When there is too much ghrelin, you experience a ravenous appetite. Systematic satisfaction of such hunger may lead to obesity.
- Increased demand on junk food(1) – fatigue and insufficient sleep makes the brain unable to reach satisfaction with light meals. If you do not get enough sleep, you will get almost immediately interested in enormous buns seasoned with cheese and deli meat, topped with ketchup and mayonnaise, even better if served with fries and Coca-Cola.
- Increased demand on caffeine and energy drinks – if you wish to prevent sleepiness at work, you reach for large doses of caffeine and other energy drinks. Such solutions might improve your well-being ad hoc. However, if you continue regularly replacing sleep with drinks with either caffeine or stimulant content, you may finally fall into insomnia and irritation.
- Annoyance and irritation –insufficient sleep means insufficient patience, calmness and lack of concentration. Instead, you gain a lot of psychical fatigue, irritation and annoyance.
1) Results of studies conducted by scientists from Harvard Medical School and McLeanHospital in Massachusetts in 2011 confirmed that the more fatigued you feel, the less active is the brain area responsible for limiting your appetite and keeping you away from eating. There is also a relation between lack of sleep and selection of high-calorie food. On the other hand, extending the amount of sleep by a relatively short time might significantly reduce appetite and direct your focus on healthy and low-calorie meals.
