Theories abound as to why we are all getting fat. Although I am convinced our expanding waistlines are caused by there being too much tempting food so cheaply and readily available, along with our high stress lifestyle which drives us to ‘deserving’ these treats, there is an interesting alternative theory that puts endless light as a culprit.
We are still mammals. Somewhere in us still lie basic instincts, and in the summer at our latitude, we enjoy long days and short nights. We naturally need less sleep and feel more energetic. Going out for an early morning jog is just so much more appealing in a light May morning than on a cold, dark morning in February. In the warmer, lighter months, food is plentiful, and its in our blueprint to eat lots of food to lay down fat stores for the cold, dark winter months ahead.
In the winter, energy levels are lower and we naturally want to do less and sleep much more. When we are asleep, finally we can’t actually eat! In the wild, food gets scarcer in the dark months, so its in our blueprint, to live on all that gorgeous fat laid down during the summer months.
But, of course,as the nights draw in in the winter, we just turn on the lights and as far as out eyes are concerned, winter never actually comes. Day length or time up can be just the same all year round; there is no apparent need to sleep more in winter and so we are not cued to either eat less – or sleep more because it is just plain too dark to see.
The theory is that long hours of daylight cue us to eat fattening foods. The problem is that in the winter,switching on those lights cues us to still eat those fattening foods instead of having a very long snooze and burning off the blab stores with a strenous bout of snoring.
The book Lights Out by T S Wiley goes into much more detail. And makes for scary reading. We really do need enough high quality sleep regularly to function well.
Tiredness is one of the greatest drivers to getting a quick pick up by scarfing down the biscuits or crisps.
Boring as it is, we all need enough sleep. Then the occasional late night has little impact. Even better, we need to get back in touch with our instincts and sleep more in the winter. Sleep more, eat less. Party more in the summer. But not every night.