It's not great news if you're a parent and are running about at all hours after the little ones, but a link between a lack of sleep and eating fatty foods has been established.
(We write this as we're tucking into a couple of chocolate digestive biscuits and a cup of tea!)
According to
Mail Online, an experiment found that those who aren't getting enough shut-eye will find themselves reaching for snacks that are high in fat, sugar and salt.
Apparently the lack of sleep causes our bodies to produce a cannabis-like hormone which makes it much harder to resist fatty foods and actually increases our pleasure when eating (akin to the feeling of marijuana munchies).
Erin Hanlon, a Chicago University researcher in metabolism, said: "We found sleep restriction boosts a signal that may increase the hedonic aspect of food intake, the pleasure and satisfaction gained from eating.
"Sleep restriction seems to augment the endocannabinoid system, the same system targeted by the active ingredient of marijuana, to enhance the desire for food intake.
"Over time, that can cause significant weight gain."
