Why We Crave Junk Food <br />After a Restless Night.<br />A new study conducted by Northwestern Medicine <br />has the answer to why we reach for unhealthy food <br />options following a night of sleeplessness. .<br />According to the study, <br />your nose — or olfactory <br />system — is at fault.<br />Your olfactory system is affected by <br />sleep deprivation in two ways:.<br />First, your nose goes into "hyperdrive" <br />in an attempt to differentiate between <br />food and non-food odors.<br />Then, there is a communication <br />breakdown with other areas of the <br />brain that handle food signals.<br />When you're sleep deprived, these brain areas may not be getting enough information, and you're overcompensating by choosing food with a richer energy signal. , Thorsten Kahnt, assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University.<br />But it may also be that these other areas fail to keep tabs on the sharpened signals in the olfactory cortex. That could also lead to choosing doughnuts and <br />potato chips, Thorsten Kahnt, assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University.<br />Previous research also found that sleep <br />deprivation can increase endocannabinoids, <br />which affect how the brain responds to odors.<br />In addition, researches found that activity in the piriform <br />cortex, an area of the brain that receives information <br />from the nose, differed between food and non-food <br />odors when a person was sleep deprived.<br />Our findings suggest that sleep deprivation makes our brain more susceptible to enticing food smells, so maybe it might be worth taking a detour to avoid your local doughnut shop next time you catch a 6 a.m. flight, Thorsten Kahnt, assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University
