How 60 minutes of sleep deprivation affects your body

As millions of Australians prepare to lose an hour’s sleep over the weekend, some of the nation’s leading health experts reveal how 60 minutes of sleep deprivation can affect your health.

Most states and territories in Australia will move into daylight saving time on Sunday, with their clocks jumping forward one hour.

At 1.59am, time will leap to 3am, missing a whole hour. People living in NSW, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia will have one less hour on Sunday morning.

As daylight saving takes effect, people in those regions will gain more sunlight in the evening and less sunlight in the morning.

So how does that affect your health?

DIET

People are likely to wake up on Monday feeling hungry and craving high-calorie foods after missing one hour of sleep, but Charles Perkins Centre health and obesity expert Nicholas Fuller advises people to “reach for nature first”.

Dr Fuller said pushing clocks forward disrupted your internal biological clock, the circadian rhythm, which had a big effect on people’s appetites and lifestyle decisions when they woke up.

He said this could happen when people only managed seven hours of sleep a night, and after an hour’s less sleep people would feel hungrier.

“Our ghrelin levels, which is the appetite hormone produced from our stomach that acts on the brain, will tell us to go and reach for more food,” he said.

“Our brain will tell us to satisfy that craving with high-calorie foods, so high sugar and high-fat foods.

“Our brain will tell us to satisfy that craving with high-calorie foods, so high sugar and high-fat foods.

“The cravings that start happening in the afternoon means we’re more likely to go to the vending machine or the corner store to satisfy the high we are looking for.”

“The cravings that start happening in the afternoon means we’re more likely to go to the vending machine or the corner store to satisfy the high we are looking for.”

Dr Fuller said research showed when people felt tired and fatigued after one night of sleep deprivation they were less likely to engage in healthy behaviours like physical exercise.

He advised people to try and go to bed earlier and go for foods that were naturally high in sugar such as berries as well as nuts, seeds, avocados and olive oil that were full of good fats.

He advised people to try and go to bed earlier and go for foods that were naturally high in sugar such as berries as well as nuts, seeds, avocados and olive oil that were full of good fats.

“So when we’re feeling that urge to go and satisfy that high we need to reach for nature first,” Dr Fuller said.

“So when we’re feeling that urge to go and satisfy that high we need to reach for nature first,” Dr Fuller said.

While eggs were perfectly fine, the nutrition expert said it was best to ditch the bacon and hollandaise sauce, and accompany the high-protein food with whole grain bread, avocado and olive oil instead.

While eggs were perfectly fine, the nutrition expert said it was best to ditch the bacon and hollandaise sauce, and accompany the high-protein food with whole grain bread, avocado and olive oil instead.

“That is a fantastic way to satisfy that craving for high-calorie food because that’s what will happen after just one night of sleep deprivation,” he said.

“That is a fantastic way to satisfy that craving for high-calorie food because that’s what will happen after just one night of sleep deprivation,” he said.

“Breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day. Research shows we burn the calories two-and-a-half times more efficiently in the morning versus the evening.

“Breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day. Research shows we burn the calories two-and-a-half times more efficiently in the morning versus the evening.

“If you load up in the morning, then you are less likely to have those big hunger pangs and ghrelin surges throughout the day, so load up in the morning and eat from big to small.”

“If you load up in the morning, then you are less likely to have those big hunger pangs and ghrelin surges throughout the day, so load up in the morning and eat from big to small.”

SLEEP AND MENTAL HEALTH

When daylight saving begins, most people will experience sleep disruption for up to a week, but for others it could take a while for the body to readjust with more serious consequences.

Studies have shown the number of heart attacks and car crashes increase after daylight saving starts in spring, and for people with existing mental health conditions, changes in sleep patterns can worsen symptoms.

Brain and Mind Centre sleep and mental health research associate Emiliana Tonini said people should try to get a lot of sunlight soon after they woke up to readjust quickly to daylight saving time and couple it with light exercise.

She said taking a short walk outside in the morning and avoiding too much bright light at night would help people adjust to the new time zone.

Dr Tonini said struggling to readjust your body to the new time could cause circadian misalignment.

“When daylight saving time occurs, our social clock changes but our body clock does not,” she said.

“One hour can seem like not much, but it could take quite a while for the body to readjust.”

Dr Tonini said most people would experience sleep disruption, delayed sleep, sleep loss or sleep fragmentation after daylight saving begins for up to one week.

When people experience a lack of sleep it influences cognitive functions, with Dr Tonini saying it could affect memory and attention, decrease alertness and disrupt mood.

“Staying up later could also increase our exposure to light at night time,” she said.

“There’s some evidence that exposure to light at night time, especially blue light from our electronic devices, can impact on our melatonin production and have a negative impact on sleep.”

Dr Tonini said sleep deprivation was linked to many major health risks, including cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, and immune-related diseases.

“For most people, daylight saving time would not have a negative impact beyond tiredness and lower sleep quality for a few days,” she said.

“However, some studies have shown that others can have more serious consequences.”

Dr Tonini said circadian disruption was associated with most major psychiatric disorders, with studies showing consistent sleep deprivation and poor sleep hygiene can increase the risk of developing depression over time.

“Chronic insufficient sleep can also elevate the body’s stress response which can lead to anxiety symptoms,” she said.

The sleep and mental health expert also explained adolescents and night owls who tended to go to sleep later and wake up later naturally experienced a delayed sleep phase.

She said daylight saving could further misalign their body clocks, reducing their sleep duration.

“Researchers have reported that adolescents showed reduced sleep duration after daylight saving time with a decreased vigilance, which can affect academic performance, for example, and increased daytime sleepiness,” she said.

“Sleep disruption has a big impact on mental health, and insufficient sleep or disrupted sleep is linked to higher rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms.

“It can also contribute to increasing stress.

“Shift workers are already experienced irregular sleep patterns, so misalignment between their internal body clock and external time cues can exacerbate their difficulties to fall asleep, wake up or have a restorative sleep.”

LONG-TERM EFFECTS

New Flinders University research reveals people living in areas with daylight saving are more likely to go to bed later and wake up later.

The study compared sleep patterns between people in areas that observed daylight saving and people who lived in regions that did not.

Sleep experts Leon Lack and Reece Kemp investigated the late-state effects of daylight saving time on sleep and daytime functioning.

Professor Lack said the study found no evidence that daylight saving time was associated with a loss in overall sleep duration or had a negative impact on sleep, sleep health, or daytime functioning during the latter part of the period.

Mr Kemp said their research found even if the initial transition into daylight saving time presented challenges, any negative effects appeared to subside within one to three months at the most.

“As the viability and impacts of daylight saving become increasingly more topical, this research adds valuable context into the effect of daylight saving and invites further inquiry into revealing the exact cost of this summer tradition on public health,” he said.

“As the clock ticks forward in October, coupled with seemingly polarised opinions on the merits of daylight saving, Australians must weigh up the value of tradition against the growing debate over its impact on wellbeing.

“Despite our findings, we understand that some people may indeed feel impacted by the transition onto daylight saving time.

“For those who struggle with the change onto daylight saving, the best and simplest way to avoid any disruptive effects on the weekend of the transition is to maintain the same sleep/wake schedule that you would for your work week.

“In other words, on the Friday and Saturday, try to avoid staying up too late and/or sleeping in too late.”