We have all experienced the effects of a bad night's sleep. Gritty eyes, zero concentration, being irritable and snappy and, more often than not, having an overriding urge to devour anything “naughty” and sugary in sight.

Coping with the effects of one night of poor sleep is one thing. Dealing with them day after day is quite another. Your mood and capabilities diminish, and research suggests that the risk of weight gain and type 2 diabetes increases.

The reason for weight gain seems to come down to shorter sleeping periods affecting levels of our hunger-controlling hormones. Amounts of leptin, a hormone that reduces appetite, have been found to be lower than normal in those who are habitually sleep-deprived (getting less than six and a half hours of good quality sleep each night) while levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates hunger, are higher. Sleep deprivation has also been found to increase the amount of the hunger-stimulating hormone cortisol zooming around our bodies.

No wonder that we try to eat our way out of tiredness. The problem, of course, is that we are drawn to foods that give us an instant energy lift. Sugary breakfast cereals or a sticky Danish pastry on the way to work, biscuits mid-morning, cake in the afternoon and a handful of sweets on the way home. But the energy burst from such foods is short-lived and will leave you feeling more exhausted.

The solution is not easy but is worth trying hard to implement. It means eschewing the urge to head straight for the Frosties and, instead, taking a few extra moments to prepare eggs on toast, a lean bacon sandwich or a bowl of porridge.

These choices all take longer to digest and provide a steadier and more stable release of sugar into the blood, helping us to override the effects of those pesky hunger-stimulating hormones.

Planning snacks and lunch is also vital. A handful of almonds or small bag of unsalted peanuts mid-morning really can help to stop your hand wandering towards the biscuits; and they give you extra nutrients, such as iron, to help concentration. Opt for a mostly protein-based lunch of, say, chicken, turkey or fish such as salmon or tuna, with a large salad or some vegetables.

Lunches high in carbohydrate, such as a baguette with a small amount of filling, a bowl of pasta or a big baked potato, have been reported to lead to feelings of lethargy and mental slowness .

Even with a protein-packed lunch you may still experience a mid-afternoon energy dip. This is when to unleash your chemical weapon - a cup of tea or coffee. The caffeine will give you a little lift to help you through by stimulating your central nervous system and boosting concentration and energy.

To get the most from this caffeine-induced benefit, cut right back on caffeine-filled drinks during the rest of the day. If we rely on artificial caffeine lifts all day long our bodies become sensitised to the effects .

The best advice for night time is to try camomile tea, however much of a cliché it may seem. Supernutrients in this herb mean that it has a mildly sedative effect, genuinely affecting anti-anxiety areas in our brain and helping to calm our whole body.

Amanda Ursell is the Times nutritionist

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