Binge eating linked to sleep issues, research suggests
A Perth professor whose research suggests a link between binge eating and sleep problems says the discovery could help improve treatments.
Key points:
- New research suggests a link between binge eating and sleep issues like insomnia and next-day tiredness
- Professor Amanda Salis says the reasons behind the connection are yet to be identified
- She hopes the discovery will lead to better treatment if medical professionals are aware of the link
Amanda Salis, from the School of Human Sciences at the University of Western Australia, hoped the findings published in the International Journal of Obesity would help inform health professionals who treated binge eating.
“We know that poor sleep does lead to poor health outcomes,” Professor Salis said.
“For example, you feel tired and cranky the next day. It can even affect your hunger, and your energy levels the next day, and that could make binge eating worse.
“If people are undergoing treatment for binge eating, or trying to struggle through it, and they do have poor sleep, then it could be really making it harder for them than it has to be.”
Binge eating is when a person consumes more food than would be considered appropriate in the circumstances.
Professor Salis said her interest in the field of obesity and weight loss was inspired by her own relationship with food in the past.
A former binge eater herself, she said the disorder was also associated with a feeling of loss of control.
“We know there are more and more people with binge eating, and also extra weight,” she said.
“I did used to binge eat, and [I had] that feeling that I’d want to open the fridge and inhale everything there.”
Professor Salis’s research set out to clarify the relationship between binge eating and sleep by collating the findings of existing research.
Her study found that people who binge eat had significantly poorer sleep outcomes, but it was not clear which symptom was the cause.
“The chicken or the egg — one could be causing the other,” she said.
She hoped the finding would improve treatment by encouraging medical professionals to start screening for poor sleep among binge eaters.
“There are perfectly good treatments for poor sleep that are available,” Professor Salis said.
She said Australia was a leader in treatment for eating disorders internationally, and suggested anyone who binge eats and experiences sleep problems should seek help.
She said online programs were an option for the treatment of eating disorders and said the InsideOut Institute was also a place to find treatment resources.
Professor Salis was also seeking approval for a planned clinical study into weight loss and dieting this year.
“I’ll be looking for people who are looking to lose weight for science,” she said.