People who get poor sleep tend to consume more calories.

A study of 12 men found that when participants were allowed only four hours of sleep, they ate an average of 559 more calories the following day, compared to when they were allowed eight hours

This increase in calories may be due to increased appetite and poor food choices, as mentioned above.

However, it may also simply be from an increase in the time spent awake and available to eat. This is especially true when the time awake is spent being inactive, like watching television

Furthermore, some studies on sleep deprivation have found that a large portion of the excess calories were consumed as snacks after dinner

Poor sleep can also increase your calorie intake by affecting your ability to control your portion sizes.

This was demonstrated in a study on 16 men. Participants were either allowed to sleep for eight hours, or kept awake all night. In the morning, they completed a computer-based task where they had to select portion sizes of different foods.

The ones who stayed awake all night selected bigger portion sizes, reported they had increased hunger and had higher levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin

).

SUMMARY:

Poor sleep can increase your calorie intake by increasing late-night snacking, portion sizes and the time available to eat.