New research has found that a diet which contains more sugar and saturated fat than fiber is responsible for disrupted sleep patterns in people. On the other hand, results show that people who include high amounts of fiber in their diet get to spend more time in slow-wave sleep, or deep sleep.
According to Science Daily, based on the study, people, whose high energy levels were attained by consuming more saturated fat, were inhibited from having deep sleep. In addition, those whose sugar intake was high resulted in more days waking up feeling exhausted, grumpy and uncomfortable.
The sleep study used to gather data and information is called polysomnography. This kind of research includes constantly checking the heart rate, brain waves, blood oxygen levels, monitoring breathing, as well as recording the leg and eye movements.
As reported by Forbes, a total of 26 individuals, 13 women and 13 men, participated in the study. All adults have a normal weight and were mostly around 35 years of age. The participants slept in what the researchers call a sleep lab for five consecutive nights. Though they stayed in bed for nine hours starting from 10 in the evening, they were only able to sleep for an average of seven hours and 35 minutes each night.
Data was studied on their third night after eating fixed meals given to them by a nutritionist. Then, the next examination was conducted on their fifth night after the partakers were allowed to choose their own food and drinks.
Each of the participants took an average of 29 minutes to finally fall asleep after eating their own meals of choice. But, consuming meals chosen by the nutritionist only took them an average of 17 minutes. These results go to show that the participants were able to sleep faster after eating meals which were protein-heavy but low in saturated fat.
Marie-Pierre St-Onge of Columbia University Medical Center, the lead researcher in the study, said that their key finding "was that diet quality influenced sleep quality." St-Onge, the assistant professor in Columbia's medicine department and Institute of Human Nutrition, continued to express her surprise at the fact that even just a day of consuming more fat and less fiber can affect sleep parameters.
As mentioned in Sleep Review Mag, their study also suggests that changes in diet can be made to help improve the quality of sleep. She stressed that research on how diet affects sleep quality is crucial especially now that more and more proof of how sleep influences the progression of certain chronic illnesses like hypertension and diabetes are emerging.
Despite the results, St-Onge's team emphasized that more studies need to be conducted to firmly establish the relationship between diet and sleep quality.
