Fasting Late At Night Reduces Effects Of Sleep Deprivation, Reduces Weight Gain

By eating less food during a late dinner, you tend to "reduce your concentration and alertness deficits that go with sleep deprivation," said a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, according to medindia.

The study also said that staying away from late-night calories can enable people to stave off some of the decline in neurobehavioral performance during sleep restriction.

There were 44 subjects aged 21 to 50 that got unlimited access to food and drink during the day, which was followed by just four hours of sleep for three nights. On the fourth night, 20 participants had continuous access to food and drinks, while 24 others were allowed only to drink water from 10:00 p.m. until they went to sleep at 4:00 a.m, according to uphs.

All those involved at 2 a.m. finished a variety of tests that could judge their working memory, cognitive skills, sleepiness, stress level and mood.

On the fourth night, all those who had fasted performed better on "reaction time and attention lapses" than others who ate well in the late-night hours. Moreover, those who ate well exhibited much slower reaction times and more attention lapses on the fourth night of sleep restriction, as compared to the first three nights, even as the study subjects who had undergone fasting did not show any performance decline.

David F. Dinges, senior author of the study, said: "Adults usually consume 500 additional calories during late-night hours when they are sleep restricted. The study found that adults who were chronically sleep restricted were required to compensate for decreased morning resting metabolic rate by reducing caloric intake or increasing physical activity to prevent weight gain."

Namni Goel, a co-researcher, added that bringing down the number of calories consumed could prevent weight gain as well as solve the health issues that they contracted with obesity.