--- title: How Sleeping Late Wrecks Your Diet description: Staying up late to binge watch Bloodline may be one reason you prefer fries over broccoli, so suggests a preliminary study. canonical: https://time.com/4377390/sleeping-late-bad-for-diet/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-23T12:00:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-06T09:29:42.142Z article:section: Health og:title: How Sleeping Late Wrecks Your Diet og:description: Night owls tend to eat fewer veggies and more fast food, study shows og:url: https://time.com/4377390/sleeping-late-bad-for-diet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0208abc4e1fa6e15/698898e00a4a2299169ca2d3/sleeping-late-bad-diet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5143 og:image:height: 2893 og:image:alt: Woman in bed reaching out to alarm clock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Sleeping Late Wrecks Your Diet twitter:description: Night owls tend to eat fewer veggies and more fast food, study shows twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0208abc4e1fa6e15/698898e00a4a2299169ca2d3/sleeping-late-bad-diet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Sleeping Late Wrecks Your Diet > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=d4275c32-ca9a-48ca-a483-94ad5a8b2756&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Do You Really Need 8 Hours of Sleep? [Watch (HLS stream): Do You Really Need 8 Hours of Sleep?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/o0FTMkL0.m3u8) (2:25)  _Published 2015-05-15. Do You Really Need 8 Hours of Sleep?_ by [Jessica Migala / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Jessica Migala / Health.com Contributor Jun 23, 2016 12:00 PM UTC Do You Really Need 8 Hours of Sleep? by [Jessica Migala / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Jessica Migala / Health.com Contributor Jun 23, 2016 12:00 PM UTC Staying up late to binge watch _Bloodline_ may be one reason you prefer fries over broccoli, suggests a [preliminary study](http://www.sleepmeeting.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/sleep-39-as%5Ffinal.pdf?sfvrsn=2) that was recently presented at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. Northwestern University researchers looked at 96 adults, aged 18 to 50, who slept more than 6.5 hours a night. (On average, they logged about 7.5 hours.) The participants wore monitors that measured their sleep and physical activity, and completed food diaries for seven days. The researchers discovered that late sleepers ate fewer [vegetables](http://www.health.com/microsites/challenge/veggie-challenge.html?xid=time) and more fast food, and were less physically active than early risers. On average, these [night owls](http://news.health.com/2009/04/23/early-bird-night-owl-brain-scans/?xid=time) went to bed at 12:45 a.m. **_Health.com:_** [**_11 Signs You’re Sleep Deprived_**](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20906153,00.html?xid=time) But there’s a kicker: You’d expect these folks to be overweight, right? Yet their body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage were both in the normal range. Oddly enough, late sleepers didn’t eat more calories, according to study co-author [Kelly Glazer Baron](http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/faculty-profiles/az/profile.html?xid=18777), PhD, assistant professor in neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “That may be why they don’t weigh more despite a poor diet,” she told _Health_ in an email. **_Health.com:_** [**_Why Interrupted Sleep Is Worse Than Short Sleep_**](http://news.health.com/2015/11/02/why-interrupted-sleep-is-worse-than-short-sleep/?xid=time) Still, since the calories they ate were junkier, it’s surprising they hadn’t put on weight. Sleep expert [Michael Breus](http://www.thesleepdoctor.com/), PhD, author of the upcoming book [_The Power of When_](https://www.amazon.com/Power-When-Discover-Chronotype-Lunch/dp/0316391263/ref=as%5Fat?tag=healthcom04a-20&linkCode=as2&)_,_ has a theory: “Night owls might genetically be programmed with a higher metabolic rate that makes up for eating high-fat, high-calorie foods.” Future research might look at the metabolism of both night owls and early birds, says Breus, who was not involved in the current study. (But needless to say, even if people who stay up late really _can_ eat more junk food without packing on pounds, that doesn’t meant they should!) Baron points out that the study looked at just a short snippet of the participants’ lives (one week), so they don’t know if a poorer diet and exercise could lead to weight gain over time. Plus, she notes people who go to bed late also tend to sleep less. “The interaction of late timing and short sleep duration may lead to weight gain,” she says. **_Health.com:_** [**_Best and Worst Foods for Sleep_**](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20628881,00.html?xid=time) The reason people who stay up late have a poorer diet could be biological (they may crave fatty foods and sweets late at night for energy) or social (they might be out late, drinking and eating), says [Shelby Harris, PsyD](http://www.einstein.yu.edu/faculty/11160/shelby-harris/), the director of behavioral sleep medicine at the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. (She was also not involved in the study.) But if you love sleeping in, you don’t need to give it up just yet. You can try focusing on your snacking habits first. “People who are night owls may make [simple changes](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20682477,00.html) if they’re just more aware that they aren’t making the best food choices,” says Harris. [_This article originally appeared on Health.com._](http://www.health.com/sleep/late-sleepers-poor-diet?xid=time) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] You're watching Everwell. Know more, live better. If I don't get at least eight hours of sleep, I'm tired, I'm crabby, I'm sluggish, I have trouble thinking clearly, making decisions. I'd say people need around, you know, eight hours of sleep and but when you're younger your just able to still function with less If you think about it, sleep is a lot like weight. There's an ideal we're all suppose to meet but few of us do. So is getting less than the recommended eight hours a night really bad for us? Well a lot less is a problem. But if you're getting a little less, there's probably no need to lose sleep over it. Routinely sleeping less than seven hours a night leads to reduced attention, concentration, and memory in most people according to research. One result is an increased risk of car accidents, but individuals vary widely in how they're effected and how much [ MUSIC ] Getting six hours of sleep, for example, can have a severe impact on some people and barely make a difference in others. Though you may think you fall in the second category, it can be hard to judge accurately for yourself. Studies amongst sleep deprived people show that they often overestimate their alertness on tasks like driving. [ NOISE ] As for the effects on our health Studies overall have linked less than six hours a night with an increased risk of heart disease, strokes, diabetes, obesity, and premature death. Interestingly, getting lots of z's, meaning nine or more hours a night, is also associated with these risks. But it's unclear whether sleeping that much is the cause of health problems, or just the result. There's no evidence that sleeping in on weekends is harmful, and it may help make up for lost sleep during the week, but not entirely. Your best bet is to consistently get seven or eight hours a night. If your reaction to that is, dream on Try turning off that TV and shutting down your computer a little earlier every evening. It could help make that dream of getting more sleep a reality. 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