You two wouldn’t happen to know why I woke up to find
a pile of potato chip crumbs on my bed, would you?
Um, what do you mean by pile?
I really hope I'm not sleep-eating.
What’s sleep eating?
What if it turns into something worse, like sleep drinking?
What if I wake up one morning and all of my coffee
is gone because I drank it all in my sleep!?
...Does caffeine even do anything for you anymore?
Oh what a nightmare!
What’s sleep eating?
It’s like sleepwalking, but you make a midnight snack.
People who sleep eat will often arise in the early
portion of the night, still completely asleep, and seek
out as much food as they can get their grubby mitts on.
They often end up eating weird and strange things.
How strange?
Like an entire bottle of ketchup,
raw bacon, or buttered cigarettes.
Buttered what!?
Today’s episode concerns sleep science.
This is very young science, and new
research is coming out everyday.
As always, if you have any questions
please consult your doctor.
And with that out of the way, let’s get into it!
A 53 year old woman was referred to a sleep clinic
by her family doctor for some strange behaviour.
She had no knowledge of any hereditary predispositions,
having been adopted in early childhood, nor did she have
a history of any neuropsychiatric diseases or drug abuse.
She arrived at the sleep clinic complaining that her
family had found her multiple times over the last year in a
state of unconsciousness, snacking on fruits and nuts, and
sometimes even cooking meals in the early hours of the night.
Wait, what do you mean she would cook food while unconscious?
I can barely even boil water when I’m awake!
She was asleep, yet her body automatically sought out food!
She would sometimes have multiple episodes in a single
night, and each time she would walk around, eyes half closed,
and would respond incoherently to her family’s questions.
In the morning, she would wake up with plates
and cutlery scattered around her bed, though she
could remember next to nothing about each episode.
Leading up to her consultation, she would
have anywhere from 2 to 3 episodes per week.
That’s not gucci.
Sometimes Grill stays up late eating
chips in bed, and that’s already too much.
Far from gucci.
The report for this woman’s case even
includes a short clip of one of her episodes.
(speaking in Portuguese)
Doctors noted that there wasn’t any precipitating event or
stress, but they do note that she had been taking 10 mg of
the sleeping pill zolpidem per day for the last 5 years.
But that’s not even the craziest example of sleep eating!
A 29 year old truck driver had been snacking
in his sleep from the age of 23, though the
symptoms worsened once he got married at 27.
On occasion, he would get up 4 to 5 times in
a single night, though he had no recollection
of any of these events upon waking.
One incident involved him getting onto his
motorcycle and driving to a 24-hour convenience
store when he couldn’t find anything to eat at home.
That’s not real.
It is, I promise.
Oh no…
He would often bang his shins or knees against
furniture during his late night snack raids,
leaving him with a persistent toe injury.
Not only that, he almost burnt his house down, trying to
sneak a quick cigarette during one of his midnight sorties.
On that night, he was only awoken because
hot ash from his cigarette fell onto his
bare legs, burning him to consciousness.
He had no history of any sort of abnormal
sleep, nor any other psychiatric issues.
There was no major precipitating event, but
he did smoke a pack of cigarettes a day,
and consumed a glass of wine per night.
I’ve heard of people falling asleep at the wheel, but
what do they call it when you pass out on a motorcycle?
A sleep-cycle?
Ugh.
Come on!
That one was actually good.
No, actually, it wasn’t.
In fact, your puns or “Word Murders”, as I like to call
‘em, are the worst thing to happen to the English language.
That’s why I’m ditching it and learning a new one.
Oh?
Oui!
I mean, yes!
See!?
I can feel the change already!
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Sleep-Related Eating Disorder or SRED is a parasomnia,
or sleep disorder, similar to sleepwalking, in which the
unconscious sleeper arises in the early moments of their
sleep cycle, to seek out high calorie, high fat, foods.
Typically, patients tend to not have any memory of episodes.
This is not to be confused with Night Eating Syndrome,
which is when someone wakes up in the night to binge eat.
Sleep Related Eating Disorder is specifically when
someone binge eats at night, while they’re still asleep.
What causes it?
The exact causes of SRED aren’t explicitly known.
Those with a history of sleepwalking
are more likely to experience SRED.
So far, there has been no evidence that it’s genetic,
though it can be triggered by stress, or a comorbid sleep
disorder, like sleep apnea, or restless leg syndrome.
SRED usually occurs during NREM sleep in the first half of
the night, and is connected to the transition to REM sleep.
I know you’ve said it before, but
I forget what REM and NREM means.
That’s Rapid Eye Movement sleep,
versus Non-Rapid Eye Movement sleep.
We generally shift between these two
phases multiple times in a night.
REM sleep is where we dream, and during
that time our brains “disconnect” from our
bodies to keep us from acting out our dreams.
OH!
So like, sleepwalking and sleep eating, couldn’t
take place during REM sleep, because our bodies are
“turned off” and they wouldn’t be able to move, right?
Spot on.
SRED happens when you crave food so badly that you dream of
eating, and you’re also still in NREM sleep, and therefore
can actually stand up and act out your dreams physically.
Studies have found that among the general
population, only about 5% are affected by SRED,
but among those who already suffer from eating
disorders, that percentage increases to 17%.
Though they note that any kind of unhealthy
relationship to food could trigger SRED.
Researchers have found a connection between
zolpidem and SRED.
What’s zolpidem?
It’s the generic name for the drug Ambien
and other brands of sleeping pills.
Michael H.
Silber, MD, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorder
Center first found a relationship between zolpidem and SRED
back in 2002, but by 2006, he had seen some 20 more cases.
Interestingly enough, the majority of patients tend
to be women between the ages of 20 and 40, which some
researchers suggest could be connected to unhealthy
relationships to food, caused by the wider cultural
expectations for women to maintain a specific body type.
So, let’s say I’m sleep eating, how would I fix it?
It’s tricky!
We know that SRED is closely linked to lifestyle issues,
so treatment will usually entail various changes monitored
by a doctor, though the goal is usually to better regulate
stress hormones, and improve one’s relationship to food.
Your physician might ask you to participate in a
sleep study, or any number of other diagnostic tests
to determine the best course of action for you.
Reducing stress and anxiety is a major avenue that
doctors will use to treat SRED, since those issues are
linked to both sleeping and eating disorders regardless.
Physicians greatly recommend reducing
one’s alcohol and caffeine intake.
You have exceeded your recommended caffeine intake until 2023.
But I don’t judge.
Disrupted sleep patterns may also cause SRED
so physicians would address the root of the
issue with things like a CPAP machine for sleep
apnea, or medication for restless leg syndrome.
Doctors will also look for any medications or other
substances that are connected to SRED, such as the sleeping
pill zolpidem, as we saw before with our first case.
Early studies have also shown that the anti-seizure
medication topiramate may also help with treatment.
It’s really exciting when we start finding
connections that we never expected to!
Sleep science is such a new field, that any
one of you watching this video right now
could be the ones to explore this frontier!
Check out our video about Sleep Paralysis for
more on sleep science in the description below!
So… are you sleep eating?
It’s hard to say.
It’s really impossible to diagnose any sleep disorders
on yourself, for the obvious reason that you’re asleep
during any episodes, and I could never recommend
self-diagnosis for any health related issue at all.
I will remain silent no longer.
What’s that, Potts?
Your home security camera footage from
your bedroom offers a truer narrative.
I was totally awake.
You can’t prove anything!
You’re not my dad!
It’s ok, Grill.
Ok, maybe I had a little snack last night,
but that’s none of your business anyways!
Brew Brew, Have you seen Avocuddle!?
I’ve looked everywhere!
Avocuddle the magical blanket friend?
Not since lockdown, no.
Oh NO!
Where could he be!?
Where could Grill have gone?
And WHERE is Chill’s blanket?
Follow these thrilling tales in the latest
installment of “On The Hill”, click here to tune in!