When you don’t get a good night’s sleep, chances are pretty good you’re going to rely on a diet of fast food because you’re too tired to fix your own, healthier meals.

And that notorious lack of nutritional value in cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets will only set you up for health problems down the road, a noted sleep researcher says.

“These meals may require less effort and may be less healthful than meals prepared at home, but over time, persons with sleep complaints may have weight or health problems related to their nutrition," says Mindy Engle-Friedman, a sleep researcher at the City University of New York.

All aspects of life

The National Sleep Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization, recommends getting between seven and eight hours of sleep each night to stay in tip-top shape the next day. If you believe you are experiencing sleep problems, check with your primary-care physician, who may refer you to a sleep specialist.

Our amounts of sleep affect our physical health, emotional well-being, mental abilities, productivity and performance in all aspects of life. What’s more, lack of good sleep may lead to an increased risk of depression, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other cardiovascular maladies, Engle-Friedman warns.

She adds to evidence against poor sleep by studying the sleeping and eating habits of 23 college students who kept track of their diets and their shut-eye. They were more likely to dive into fast food if they got little sleep or awoke several times during the night, which has researchers exploring links between excessw weight and too little snoozing.

"Weight begins to increase when you get less than seven hours of sleep a night," says Karen Collins, nutrition advisor to the American Institute for Cancer Research in Washington, D.C. "And almost one-third of adults report sleeping six hours or less a night. Not a good sign."

The Journal of the American Medical Association reported recently that a decline in daily hours of sleep may play more of a role in promoting overeating and weight gain. Sleep researchers at Northwestern University's in Chicago say their study of extremely overweight adults showed just half of them slept five hours, but nearly three-fourths got four or less hours of sleep a night.

Boosting hunger hormone

Also last year, sleep experts say women who slept for five hours a night were 32 percent more likely to gain at least 33 pounds and 15 percent more likely to become obese than women who slept seven hours.

Lack of sleep seems to boost your body's level of ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates appetite, while simultaneously dropping the level of leptin, which tells your body you've had enough to eat, Collins says.

"Together these changes would lead us to feel we need to eat more, even when we may have consumed all the calories we need," she says. "Some research suggests that other hormones, including those affecting blood sugar, may also be affected by lack of sleep.

"No wonder so many of us make midnight raids on the refrigerator."