A new study found eating less fiber, more saturated fat, sugar is associated with lighter, less restorative, and more disrupted sleep. Results show that greater fiber intake predicted more time spent in deep, slow wave sleep. In contrast, a higher percentage of energy from saturated fat predicted less slow wave sleep. Greater sugar intake also was associated with more arousals from sleep.
“Our main finding was that diet quality influenced sleep quality,” said Marie-Pierre St-Onge, PhD, assistant professor in the department of medicine and Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, N.Y. “It was most surprising that a single day of greater fat intake and lower fiber could influence sleep parameters.”
The study also found that participants fell asleep faster after eating fixed meals provided by a nutritionist, which were lower in saturated fat and higher in protein than self-selected meals. It took participants an average of 29 minutes to fall asleep after consuming foods and beverages of their choice, but only 17 minutes to fall asleep after eating controlled meals.
“The finding that diet can influence sleep has tremendous health implications, given the increasing recognition of the role of sleep in the development of chronic disorders such as hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” said St-Onge.
The randomized, crossover study involved 26 adults – 13 men and 13 women – who had a normal weight and an average age of 35 years. During 5 nights in a sleep lab, participants spent 9 hours in bed from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., sleeping for 7 hours and 35 minutes on average per night. Objective sleep data were gathered nightly by polysomnograhy. Sleep data were analyzed from night 3, after 3 days of controlled feeding, and night 5, after one day of ad libitum food intake.
The study suggests that diet-based recommendations might be used to improve sleep in those with poor sleep quality. However, future studies are needed to evaluate this relationship.
http://www.aasmnet.org/jcsm/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=30412
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