Cultural English 217 - Ask an American - Sleep and weight gain; Q&A

Complete Transcript

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 217.

This is ESL Podcast’s English Café episode 217. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

On this Café, we’re going to have another one of our Ask an American segments, where we listen to other native speakers talking at a normal rate of speech – a normal speed. We’re going to listen to them and explain what they are talking about. Today we’re going to talk about the importance of sleep and how not getting enough sleep can make you gain weight. And, as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.

Our topic on this Café’s Ask an American segment is how not getting enough sleep can make you gain weight. A woman named Siobhan Banks at the University of Pennsylvania is studying how sleep affects weight gain. She worked with a group of about 90 people whose sleep was restricted, "restricted," or limited and compared them to people who got normal amounts of sleep. Let's listen to her talk about what she learned. Try to understand as much as you can, and then we’ll go back and explain what she said.

[recording]

"It seems that everybody pretty much over the whole experimental sleep restriction group gained weight. The average was at about 1.3 kilos."

[end of recording]

She starts by talking about the whole experimental sleep restriction group, or the entire group of people who were studied and had a limited amount of time for sleeping. She says that pretty much everybody in the group gained weight. The phrase "pretty much" means mostly or generally. It's used to talk about something that is usually true, or almost always true for most people. If I say that I'm pretty much done recording an ESL Podcast episode, then I might be 90% or 95% finished, but I still have a little bit of work to do. If you ask someone if he's seen all the episodes of television series Lost and he says, "pretty much," then he has probably seen all but one or two of the episodes.

Ms. Banks says that pretty much everyone in the group gained weight. On average, they got about 1.3 kilos, or 3 pounds, heavier. Let's listen to her talk about this again.

[recording]

"It seems that everybody pretty much over the whole experimental sleep restriction group gained weight. The average was at about 1.3 kilos."

[end of recording]

Ms. Banks reports that these people gained weight even thought they seemed to eat less during the study period, when their sleep was limited. Let's listen to her talk about this.

[recording]

"They think people seemed anecdotally to be largely uninterested in food. You know, I would often go in and see that people had only half-eaten their meals. We gave them regular meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner. And then we sort of had a buffet of snacks that they could choose from at any time."

[end of recording]

She says that anecdotally the people seemed uninterested in food. An anecdote, "anecdote," is a short story based on a personal experience. It may or may not be true for all people. A woman might tell you that she immediately became more popular after she changed the color of her hair from black to blonde. Many Americans say that blondes have more fun, but her story is only an anecdote. It's true for her, but we don’t really know if it's true for every woman who colors her hair. We'd have to do more research for that.

In the same way, Ms. Banks is saying that, anecdotally, the people in her study were uninterested in food. They told her that they weren't very interested in food, but we'd have to talk to a lot more people and have a much larger study to find out whether it's true for all people that not sleeping very much makes you less hungry. She says that these people were largely, "largely," uninterested in food, which means that they were mostly uninterested in food. There might have been a few exceptions, or a few people who were actually more interested in food while they were sleeping less. But as a group, the people were largely uninterested in food, meaning that most of them didn't feel a strong desire to eat.

Ms. Banks says she would often go into the rooms where these people were and see that they had only half-eaten their meals. This phrase, "half-eaten," means that they only ate about one-half, or approximately 50% of their food. They left a lot of food on their plates. We can make similar phrases, talking about someone who is half-dressed and not wearing all his or her clothes, or something that is half-ruined, or almost destroyed. She says that she gave these people regular meals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but they left them half-eaten. They didn't finish what was on their plates.

The researchers also had a buffet of snacks that the people could choose from. A buffet is a special long table that has many different types of food. At a restaurant, you can order a specific dish off the menu, or you might be able to go to the buffet table, where you can take an empty plate and fill it up with a small amount of many different foods. A buffet is a good way to try many different things. In this context, a buffet of snacks is probably a long table with many different snack foods that were always available. People could eat them between meals, without having to wait for a specific time when a meal would be served.

Let's listen to Ms. Banks talk about all this again.

[recording]

[end of recording]

Next, Ms. Banks will talk about why she thinks people might have gained more weight even though they weren't finishing their meals. Let's listen.

[recording]

"People might have shifted a little bit from eating a full meal to grazing and snacking more."

[end of recording]

She says that people might have shifted in the way that they eat. To shift, "shift," means to change from one position to another, or to slightly change the way that one is doing something. A shift isn't a big change. Ms. Banks thinks people may have shifted a little bit from eating a full or complete meal to grazing and snacking more. The verb "to graze," "graze," is usually used to talk about cows and horses, or other animals that are outdoors and spend most of the day slowly eating their food. Most Americans normally eat a large meal just three times a day, but animals that graze eat a little bit all day long. Sometimes people do the same thing, eating little snacks while they work, watch TV, or spend time with friends. We sometimes say that those people are grazing.

Let's listen to Ms. Banks talk about this again.

[recording]

"People might have shifted a little bit from eating a full meal to grazing and snacking more."

[end of recording]

Finally, Ms. Banks talks about some of the reasons why her research is important. Let's hear what she has to say.

[recording]

"I think it's very important that if, say, if you're shift worker, to be aware of the fact that your sleep disruption may cause some metabolic change. We're not exactly sure what that is, but it might set you up for having some difficulty in maintaining weight, or it might make you a little more hungry. Certainly, that's what some of the evidence is."

[end of recording]

She thinks her research is important for shift workers. When a hospital or a factory needs to be open 24 hours a day, it might have employees who work in three 8-hour shifts. Some of these shift workers have the night shift, meaning that they work at night when most other people are asleep. People who are shift workers need to be aware of the effects of sleep disruption. A disruption is an interruption, or something that makes something else stop working normally for a short period of time. A disruption changes something, usually in a negative way. A very bad snowstorm can cause disruptions in bus schedules, making buses come later than usual. Working in shifts causes sleep disruptions, because shift workers can't sleep when they normally would.

Ms. Banks says that these sleep disruptions might cause some metabolic change. Your metabolism, "metabolism," refers to how your body works, and especially how much energy your body burns or uses during the day. People with a high metabolism can eat a lot of food and never gain weight, because their bodies use a lot of energy. People with a low metabolism might eat very little, but still gain weight. If sleep disruptions cause a metabolic change, they might slow down people's bodies so that they don't need as much energy. If those people keep eating normally, but suddenly have a slower metabolism because they aren't sleeping as much, they will probably gain weight.

Ms. Banks isn't sure exactly what the metabolic change is, but it might set people up for having some difficulty in maintaining their weight, or keeping their weight where it should be. The phrase "to set (someone) up for (something)" means to prepare someone for something, or to put someone in a position for something to happen. We hope listening to ESL Podcast sets you up for a conversation with a native speaker, or for a job where you need to speak and write in English. The metabolic change that Ms. Banks is researching might set people up for having problems maintaining their weight, or it might set them up to be hungrier. She ends by saying that certainly, or surely, that's what some of the evidence, "evidence," or the research results, are showing.

Let's listen to her talk about all this one more time.

[recording]

[end of recording]

Now let’s answer a few of your questions.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time on the English Café.

Glossary

pretty much – mostly; generally; referring to something that is usually true or is almost always true for most people

* August is pretty much the warmest month of the year.

anecdotally – based on stories from one's personal experience, but not necessarily true for all people at all times

* Anecdotally, I know several people who have found their husband or wife through online dating services, but I wonder what percentage of all the people who use those websites actually marry someone they meet online?

largely – mostly; primarily

* The medical students here are largely interested in becoming surgeons.

half-eaten – with only about 50% of a food having been eaten, and the rest remaining untouched

* It makes me sad to throw away all this half-eaten food. I wish we had a way to share it with people who don't have enough to eat.

buffet – a long table that has many different types of food, so that one can take an empty plate and fill it up with a small amount of many different foods, deciding what one does or does not want to eat

* They spent hours trying many different foods at the all-you-can-eat buffet.

to shift – to change from one position to another, or to slightly change the way that one is doing something

* Her interests have shifted from music theory to performance.

to graze – to eat a small amount of food almost all day long, instead of having three large meals

* The new engineer is always grazing at his desk, eating bags of chips and cookies and drinking soda between meals.

shift worker – a person who works non-standard hours (hours that are not 9:00-5:00), usually because he or she works fore an organization that has to be open 24 hours per day, meaning that some people have to work at night

* He makes good money as a shift worker, but he doesn't like it, because he has a hard time sleeping during the day and working at night.

disruption – an interruption; something that makes something else stop working normally for a short period of time

* There was a disruption in our electricity service, and we didn't have power for almost two hours.

metabolic change – a change in how much energy one's body uses and how much food one needs

* As people get older, they notice a metabolic change where their bodies slow down and they don't need to eat as much food as they used to eat.

to slip through (one's) fingers – a phrase used to describe something or someone that one is losing or letting go of, but that one is trying to keep hold of

* Time is slipping through my fingers and there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I'd like to do.

drink – (noun) a liquid in a single serving meant to be swallowed; (verb) to swallow liquid

* Do you want to go out for a drink after work today?

beverage – (noun) a more formal term for liquid in a single serving meant to be swallowed

* The airline offers its passengers many beverages, including coffee, tea, soda, juice, wine, and beer.

individually – in a way distinct from all the others; describing a way of doing things just by oneself alone, apart from the group; one at a time

* The manager discusses performance and raises individually with each employee.

separately – describing a way of doing things apart instead of together

* How long have Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins been living separately?

independently – in a way that does not depend on others; ability to control one’s own actions

* Teenagers say they want to do things independently, but they still need their parents, too.

What Insiders Know

Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes

It can be very difficult to get young children to fall asleep at night. Many parents try to create bedtime “routines” (things that are done the same way every time) to get their children ready for bed, usually by bathing them, reading stories, “rubbing” (gently touching or massaging) their back, and singing.

“Lullabies” are quiet songs that are sung to help children fall asleep. Some popular lullabies include “Rock-a-Bye Baby” where “to rock” means to hold a child in one’s arms and slowly move back and forth or side to side, often while sitting in a “rocking chair” (a chair that has two rounded pieces at the bottom, so that it moves forward and backward smoothly). Other popular lullabies include “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” where “to twinkle” means for a star to shine with light in the sky, and “Hush Little Baby,” where “hush” is something we say to someone to ask them to stop making noise and calm down. You can hear these and many other lullabies and read their “lyrics” (the words to a song) at http://tinyurl.com/nzugt9.

Parents who don’t like to sing might instead “recite” (say something many times from memory, without reading it) “nursery rhymes,” which are short, silly poems. “Hey Diddle Diddle” is a nursery rhyme about a cat that plays the “fiddle” (an instrument like a violin) and a cow that jumps over the moon. “Humpty Dumpty” is about a large egg that sat on a wall, fell, and broke. “Little Miss Muffet” is about a young lady who was sitting down and eating, but ran away when a spider scared her. You can read these and many other nursery rhymes at http://tinyurl.com/n5asa.