Looking at Your Phone Before Bed Can Make You Gain Weight
We’ve all heard that it’s bad to stay on your phone until you get so exhausted you finally have to go to bed, but if you’re anything like me, you scoff in the general direction of that warning.
How dare science get in the way of your late night screen time.
Sure, looking at your phone might take you a little longer to fall asleep, but that’s what coffee’s for, right?
Turns out feeling extra sleepy when you wake up after 5 or 6 hours of sleep could be the least of your problems.
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Explaining the impact of screens on sleep, Dr. Dan Siegel, clinical professor of psychiatry of UCLA School of Medicine explained to Business Insider that the “stream of photons from these objects basically tells your brain, ‘stay awake. it’s not time to go to sleep yet.’”
So your brain doesn’t start secreting melatonin and it takes you a couple more hours to feel ready for bed.
Dr. Dan explained, “we now know that what sleep is probably doing is allowing your active neurons to rest, which is fine, but more than that, the supportive cells called glial cells are now cleaning up the toxins that the neurons produced.”
And if you don’t get between 7 to 9 hours of sleep, the toxins never get scrubbed from your brain.
As a punishment, Dr. Dan explains that “it makes your attention falter, your memory is impaired” and it affects your insulin, which is what helps regulate your metabolism.
Dr. Dan says that if you don’t get enough sleep, you’re “more likely to gain weight from what you eat” and more likely to eat more.
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Say what?
Not getting enough sleep could make you inadvertently pack on the pounds?
I don’t care what you gleaned from stalking your ex’s new bae until 1 a.m. last night, it’s not worth it.
Dr. Dan suggests turning off your phone an hour before you go to sleep and really making it a priority to get 7 to 9 hours.
Do it for science and your waistline.
[H/T Business Insider]
