5 Signs You’re Not Getting Enough Sleep

Balancing work, social life and staying fit and healthy can often mean that a good night’s sleep is sacrificed.

But lack of sleep can trigger serious and far-reaching health problems, beyond just feeling a little tired.

This is because napping is vital for healing the heart and blood vessels, while those who are extremely sleep deprived even risk damaging their organs.

Here MailOnline reveals the five signs you’re not getting enough sleep, according to retailer Bed Kingdom.

Craving takeout

If you have sudden cravings for takeout or junk food, it could be a sign that you are sleep deprived.

Lack of sleep alters appetite-regulating hormones, according to scientists at the University of California.

the little 2014 study monitored the food cravings of 23 healthy participants on nights of normal sleep and nights of total sleep deprivation.

They found that when the volunteers didn’t get enough sleep, the participants were more likely to turn to junk food. The researchers believe this was due to cravings for snacks high in calories, sugar and fat as a way to boost energy levels.

But researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine found in 2019 that unhealthy food cravings among those who don’t get enough sleep could be due to the nose or the olfactory system — the sense of smell.

Experts suggest that when you’re sleep deprived, your nose is too tired to send enough information to the brain regarding the different odors of food.

This can result in reaching for richer foods with a stronger smell, often junk food.

Bad memory

Many people can feel more forgetful when they are tired.

This is because sleep deprivation affects the brain’s ability to learn and remember information.

During rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is known for dreaming, the brain is active, building and storing memories of the previous day, according to the Sleep Foundation.

Getting less sleep disrupts this process, interrupting the formation of memories and the absorption of information.

And sleep-deprived people are even at risk of forming false memories, according to a study of 60 people by doctors in Singapore published in the Journal of Sleep Research in 2016.

Your ability to remember is not only affected by lack of sleep, but sleep is also essential to reinforce learning and absorption of motor skills and physical reflexes, hence the term muscle memory.

This is another reason why a high percentage of car accidents occur due to lack of sleep, as experts say sleep-deprived drivers have a slower reaction time.

Weight gain

Lack of sleep could even hamper attempts to lose weight.

Sleep duration has long been linked to the body’s production of appetite-regulating hormones, according to researchers at Harvard University.

They say that lack of sleep is associated with higher levels of the hormone ghrelin, which increases appetite and signals hunger.

Lack of sleep is also linked to lower levels of the hormone leptin, which is needed to feel full.

As a result, higher levels of ghrelin coupled with less leptin will make you hungrier and your body will react more slowly when you’re full, increasing your risk of overeating.

Sleep deprivation also increases stress, which causes an increase in cortisol levels.

Cortisol is a stress hormone responsible for retaining energy (sugars and fats) for later use. So higher levels of this hormone mean your body retains more fat.

Experts say that insulin levels are also affected by lack of sleep, since higher cortisol levels make the body less sensitive to insulin.

Insulin is a hormone that converts food into energy. The body has a harder time processing fats from the bloodstream when it becomes less sensitive to insulin.

Over time, this leads to the accumulation of fat in the body and weight gain.

bad decision making

Studies show that sleep loss is linked to risky decision making.

In 2020, scientists in Italy looked at the effects of total and partial sleep deprivation on a person’s impulsivity and risk-taking.

They studied 74 people, 32 of whom had a night of whatever amount of sleep was normal for them (all said they usually get 7 to 8 hours of sleep), followed by a night of no sleep at all, arriving at a lab at 9 pm and stay wide awake all night.

The rest of the people, 42, had five nights of regular sleep, according to their own sleep habits, followed by five nights of partial sleep deprivation, where they had to go to bed at 2 a.m. and wake up at 7 a.m.

They found that those who had prolonged, even partial, sleep deprivation suffered more detrimental outcomes.

For the study published in the journal Nature of Science and Sleep, the authors wrote: “Under the effects of sleep loss, people [who are] usually more thoughtful and cautious become more impulsive and prone to risk taking during decision making based on deliberative reasoning.’

Experts have suggested that this increase in risk-taking when sleep deprived is due to decreased function of the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that regulates thoughts, actions, and emotions.

excessive heating

Sleep is vital for the body to regulate our internal temperature, experts say.

Without sleep, he struggles to maintain a normal temperature of 37C (98.6F).

This means that as people get more tired, their brains could get hotter, according to Boston University scientists.

Yawning, a telltale sign of tiredness, is one method of compensating for this thermoregulatory failure and helps cool the brain, they say.

So the next time you’re feeling hot and cranky, it could be a sign that you need to get some more sleep.