Earlier this week I blogged about the possible deleterious impact that sleep deprivation, alcohol intake and TV watching can have on food intake.
Now a paper by Jean-Phillipe Chaput and colleagues from the University of Ottawa, published in the APPETITE, suggests that sleep deprivation in turn may contribute to increased alcohol consumption.
This cross-sectional study looked at the association between sleep duration and alcohol consumption in adults (301 men and 402 women aged 18 to 64 years) from the greater Quebec City area.
Participants categorized as short- (⩽6 h), compared to average- (7-8 h) or long- (⩾9 h) duration sleepers, consumed significantly more alcohol and had greater odds of odds of exceeding the recommendations for sensible weekly alcohol intake of 14 drinks for men and 7 drinks for women, even after adjusting for relevant confounders.
While this relationship was evident in both sexes, binge drinking (i.e. ⩾5 drinks on one occasion) was more common in men than women. Thus, men sleeping less than 6 hours per night with a disinhibited eating behavior were more likely to report binge drinking (41%).
Based on these findings the authors suggest that the combination of short sleep duration with disinhibited eating behavior is associated with greater alcohol intake in adults, findings that can certainly further explain the strong relationship between not getting enough sleep and weight gain.
Perhaps counselling patients on sleep hygiene may do more for them than asking them to simply eat less and move more.
AMS
Edmonton, Alberta
Chaput JP, McNeil J, Després JP, Bouchard C, & Tremblay A (2012). Short sleep duration is associated with greater alcohol consumption in adults. Appetite PMID: 22841812
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People Who Sleep Less Drink More,
In The News
August 3rd, 2012 at 8:14 am
In line with the idea that it may make more sense to focus on sleep hygiene than ELMM, here’s a recent editorial by JP and myself:
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8606405
August 3rd, 2012 at 8:31 am
And in turn, as I have been informed by a physician, alcohol disrupts sleep. Vicious cycle, there.
August 4th, 2012 at 5:33 am
I was going to make that comment, too. Not only does alcohol (in excess) disrupt sleep, people who drink a lot may also spend more time out at bars and clubs. That’s consistent with sleeping less, as well.
That said, a glass of wine or two can make it easier to sleep. Alcohol isn’t the devil. Like many things, it’s healthy in moderation and harmful in excess.
August 4th, 2012 at 7:10 am
Yes, it is indeed difficult to drink when you’re sleeping. lol.
August 4th, 2012 at 2:44 pm
I always used to read post in news papers but now as I am a user of internet so from now I am using net for articles,
thanks to web.