Phenotypic Stability of Energy Balance Responses to Experimental Total Sleep Deprivation and Sleep Restriction in Healthy Adults

Abstract

Experimental studies have shown that sleep restriction (SR) and total sleep deprivation (TSD) produce increased caloric intake, greater fat consumption, and increased late-night eating. However, whether individuals show similar energy intake responses to both SR and TSD remains unknown. A total of N = 66 healthy adults (aged 21–50 years, 48.5% women, 72.7% African American) participated in a within-subjects laboratory protocol to compare daily and late-night intake between one night of SR (4 h time in bed, 04:00–08:00) and one night of TSD (0 h time in bed) conditions. We also examined intake responses during subsequent recovery from SR or TSD and investigated gender differences. Caloric and macronutrient intake during the day following SR and TSD were moderately to substantially consistent within individuals (Intraclass Correlation Coefficients: 0.34–0.75). During the late-night period of SR (22:00–04:00) and TSD (22:00–06:00), such consistency was slight to moderate, and participants consumed a greater percentage of calories from protein (p = 0.01) and saturated fat (p = 0.02) during SR, despite comparable caloric intake (p = 0.12). Similarly, participants consumed a greater percentage of calories from saturated fat during the day following SR than TSD (p = 0.03). Participants also consumed a greater percentage of calories from protein during recovery after TSD (p < 0.001). Caloric intake was greater in men during late-night hours and the day following sleep loss. This is the first evidence of phenotypic trait-like stability and differential vulnerability of energy balance responses to two commonly experienced types of sleep loss: our findings open the door for biomarker discovery and countermeasure development to predict and mitigate this critical health-related vulnerability.

Healthy Adults Display Long-Term Trait-Like Neurobehavioral Resilience and Vulnerability to Sleep Loss

“…The ICCs found in this study are also within the ranges of energy balance responses to TSD-SR exposures and to long duration SR-SR exposures 16 , 17 , within the ranges for polysomnographic sleep and slow-wave energy responses to TSD-TSD exposures 13 , 14 , and within the ranges for heart rate, heart rate variability, PERCLOS, blink rate, and EEG alpha power responses to TSD-TSD exposures 15 .…”

“…Stable and trait-like interindividual differences are observed in physiological responses to TSD, particularly in polysomnographic sleep and slow-wave energy responses to sleep loss across 2–3 days 12 – 14 , as well as in heart rate, heart rate variability, percentage of eyelid closure (PERCLOS), blink rate, and EEG alpha power across 2.5–15 months 15 . Furthermore, energy balance responses to sleep loss are phenotypic and stable across long time intervals of up to 2,132 days 16 and across different types of sleep loss with 4 days between exposures 17 (i.e., acute TSD and chronic SR).…”

Body composition impact on sleep in young adults: The mediating role of sedentariness, physical activity, and diet

“…High BMI and short sleep duration caused by sleep disorders are both public health concerns due to their high and increasing prevalence in the overall population [1-4] and their broad-ranging adverse health-related consequences such as endocrine and metabolic alterations, life-threating cardiovascular diseases, and impaired daytime functioning and mood [47,48]. Although the bidirectional relationship between obesity and sleep disturbances is well-accepted [49], and the effects of short sleep on BMI have been widely shown and explained [10,50], the underlying mechanism explaining the effects of high BMI on sleep still remains uncertain [11,12]. According to our results, sedentary time may be one of the mediating factors explaining the negative impact of high BMI on sleep duration in young men, which is in accordance with previous studies where sedentariness was independently and closely associated with higher BMI and shorter sleep duration [13][14][15][16].…”

Caloric and Macronutrient Intake and Meal Timing Responses to Repeated Sleep Restriction Exposures Separated by Varying Intervening Recovery Nights in Healthy Adults

“…Additionally, any food/drink that was left over after each meal was weighed and recorded. Intake data were entered into The Food Processor SQL program (version 10.11; ESHA Research, Salem, OR), which is a validated professional nutrition analysis software and database program [37] that provides components of food and drink intake including calories and macronutrients, and that we have used in several prior studies [21,22,30,31,36,38].…”

“…We further hypothesized that intake during the second exposure would be cumulatively greater than during the first exposure and that participants who received fewer nights of intervening recovery sleep would exhibit greater cumulative intake changes during the second sleep restriction exposure than those who received more nights of intervening recovery sleep. Given our previous studies demonstrating changes in fiber, sugar, and saturated fat intake during sleep restriction [30,31], we also explored variations in these nutrients during the protocol.…”