Could Charging Your Phone at Night Make You Gain Weight?
By Ashley Mateo for Self
If you’re at all like me, you suffer from bedtime procrastination (it’s a real thing, people!). But, even if you aren’t addicted to scrolling through your social feeds after lights out, your phone might be messing with your sleep habits—and causing you to gain weight.
Hold the phone. Literally. But yes, it’s true: Charging your phone overnight could make you fat. According to researchers at Manchester University, some of our smartphones emit short-wavelength blue light, which is incredibly disruptive to your body’s production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Apparently, our bodies need pitch-black dark to produce the precise levels of melatonin, which is also involved in regulating the conversion of food and drink into energy. As a result, the light coming from our phones screws up our metabolism, which in turn can lead to weight gain.
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We already know that just losing sleep can cause us to pack on the pounds. “There is no doubt that insufficient sleep promotes hunger and appetite, which can cause excessive food intake resulting in weight gain,” says Eve Van Cauter, director of the Sleep, Metabolism and Health Center at the University of Chicago.
Obviously, we can’t survive our waking hours without our phone in hand. But, do yourself a favor and charge your phone in another room when you hit the sack. It’s hard enough to curb our cravings as is (yes, still pumpkin spice everything)—the last thing we need is to set ourselves up for unhealthy eating habits when we’re not even conscious.
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photo: Stephanie Rausser
