The Way You Sleep May Make You Crave Carbs

Obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that causes you to briefly stop breathing while you sleep, can also halt your attempts at losing weight. Those non-breathing sessions at night can lead to carb cravings and binge eating during the day.

This is especially problematic if you have diabetes.

“[Our] study provides an indication of the magnitude of the associated risk between sleep apnea and self-reported carbohydrate craving in the diabetic population,” says researcher Mahmood Siddique, DO, with the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J.

“Previous studies have shown that sleep deprivation may lead to changes in hormones that regulate appetite and hunger,” Siddique says. “These hormonal changes can lead to significant craving for high-calorie carbohydrates such as cookies, candy, breads, rice and potatoes. The current study supports previous findings by validating this in a community sample of diabetics.”

Treating sleep apnea may necessitate wearing a special mask at night. However, for some people, the condition stops if they sleep on their stomachs.