Higher fruit and vegetable consumption during the day is linked to significantly better sleep the same night, found a new study published in Sleep Health.
"Dietary modifications could be a new, natural and cost-effective approach to achieve better sleep. The temporal associations and objectively-measured outcomes in this study represent crucial steps toward filling a gap in important public health knowledge,” co-senior author of the study, Esra Tasali, MD, director of the University of Chicago Sleep Center, said in a press release.
For the study, researchers recruited 34 healthy young adults with an average age of 28 years old. Participants recorded daily food intake via an app and wore a wrist monitor to track their sleep. In particular, the researchers assessed a measure of sleep known as 'sleep fragmentation' which is how often a person wakes up or shifts between lighter and deeper stages of sleep.
Ultimately, they found that eating more fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates like whole grains was linked to longer periods of deep, undisturbed sleep. The researchers also observed weaker ‘trends’ towards higher intake of red and processed meat and more disrupted sleep, and higher fiber and magnesium intake and less disrupted sleep.
The researchers found that people who follow the CDC's recommendation of eating five cups of fruits and vegetables per day could experience an average 16% improvement in sleep quality compared to those who do not eat fruits or vegetables.
Tasali noted that 16% is a ‘highly significant difference’, and especially for such a short time window ie. less than 24 hours.
Future research will explore whether the link is causal, the potential underlying biological mechanisms, and whether the findings apply to more diverse demographics.
"People are always asking me if there are things they can eat that will help them sleep better. Small changes can impact sleep. That is empowering -- better rest is within your control," co-senior author Marie-Pierre St-Onge, PhD, director of the Center of Excellence for Sleep & Circadian Research at Columbia, said in a press release.
Sources: Science Daily, Sleep Health
