The Checkup: Get More Sleep to Reduce Overeating

• If you didn’t get enough sleep this weekend, keep reading. A small new study linked appetite-regulating hormones with sleep patterns—specifically, showing that getting too little sleep can throw those hormones out of whack, leading you to overeat. Interestingly, researchers found that the process works differently in men and women. In the male study subjects who got too little sleep (in this case meaning just four hours), levels of the hunger-stimulating hormone ghrelin increased; in the women, too little sleep resulted in reduced levels of the satiety hormone, GLP-1, which means they felt less full than they otherwise would have on a full night of sleep. The end behavioral result is the same: overeating. As HealthDay reports, “the findings suggest that the common problem of wanting to overeat due to a lack of sleep is related to increased appetite in men and reduced feelings of fullness in women.” Interesting, no? Read more here.

• Do you update your Facebook status when you’re on the toilet? That’s gross—but at least you’re not alone. A study found that a third of social-network users between the ages of 18 and 24 use sites like Facebook and Twitter while they’re on the can. CBS Philly has more.

• The Huffington Post has apparently looked into a crystal ball and determined that 2013 will be “the year of the liver.” As in, eating liver. It’s apparently loaded with B vitamins, vitamin A and iron. That’s all well and good, but you certainly won’t find me ordering the foie gras any time soon. Also? I do not believe this one bit: “The organ meat is so packed-to-the-hilt with the energy-producer that some say it stands poised to replace Red Bull as the nightclub pick-me-up of choice.”

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