If you’re at all like me, you’ve eaten a lot of junk food late at night.

是不是有小伙伴和我一样，晚上很晚的时候还要吃很多垃圾食品呢。

One explanation for those late-night slices of pizza or burgers has to do with alcohol, which has a disinhibiting effect that makes us crave¹ fat and salt.

有一个解释就是那些我们晚上吃的披萨和汉堡都含有酒精，而酒精则可以使我们更加渴望脂肪和盐。

But an increasing body of research suggests that exhaustion², too, plays a role — that the “sleep munchies” are real, at least in cases when people didn’t get enough sleep the night before.

但是越来越多的研究表明，疲惫也会使人养成睡前吃东西的习惯，尤其是那些前一晚没有充足睡眠的人。

A study in the journal Sleep in which participants were put on normal sleep or sleep-restricted schedules while their calories were carefully monitored.

睡眠》期刊中记录了一项实验，参与者分别被分到正常睡眠组和限制性睡眠组，并且详细监测了他们体内的卡路里。

Allison reports:The new study, based on blood samples, documents a novel finding: The daily rhythm of a particular endocannabinoid is altered by a lack of sleep.

阿里森说这一基于血液试样的研究证明了一个新的发现：人体内的花生四烯酸甘油的含量会因缺乏睡眠而改变。

And these changes “could be driving intake³ for more palatable⁴ foods,” Erin Hanlon, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago Medical Center, told us.

“而这些变化就是驱使人对美食向往的元凶。”芝加哥医疗中心大学的神经系统科学家艾瑞森·汉龙告诉我们。

“We found that sleep restriction⁵ boosts a signal that may increase the hedonic aspect of food intake,” says Hanlon.

汉龙说，缺乏睡眠会促使人们增加对美味食物的享受。

In other words, being sleep deprived may produce a stronger desire to eat.

换言之，睡眠不好会让人更加想吃东西。

We’re still a long way from understanding the connections between sleeplessness⁶, stress, and, well, gluttony.

或许我们尚未研究清楚睡眠、压力以及暴饮暴食之间的关系。

But knowing that the “sleep munchies” are probably a real thing with an explainable physical cause can only help those of us trying to improve our droopy-eyed eating habits.

但了解睡前饥饿感的原因至少可以帮助我们改善睡眼惺忪还得吃东西的习惯。