Nutrition & Sleep

How to improve your sleep by changing your eating & drinking habits.

The relationship between nutrition and sleep is far from being completely clarified. However, the available scientific evidence supports a few tips that can improve your sleep:

1.) Cut down on coffee and caffeinated products (soft drinks, tea, chocolate); and restrict them to the morning. Caffeine has stimulating effects and can make it difficult to fall asleep. For those who can sleep after a cup of coffee, it can lead to reduced sleep duration, more awakenings, reduced deep sleep, and worsened subjective sleep quality. Caffeine doses equivalent to two 8oz cups of coffee in the morning have been shown to reduce deep sleep at night.

2.) Reduce or eliminate alcoholic beverages before
bedtime.
Although alcohol has sedative properties and can make you sleep more quickly, it comes at a high cost. In the second half of the night, you are more likely to experience increased sleep disruption with more awakenings and less deep sleep, which can make you feel less refreshed in the morning. Alcohol can also give rise to or worsen obstructive sleep apnea and reduce your oxygen levels at night.

3.) Swap out sugary and starchy foods, for vegetables and fruits. A high glycemic index diet, which is associated with foods with high amount of simple carbohydrates such as potatoes, white rice and white bread, can quickly increase blood sugar. Although high glycemic meals were shown to help healthy volunteers fall asleep in experimental conditions higher intakes of dietary added sugars, starch, and nonwhole/refined grains have been associated with a higher risk of developing insomnia over time. By contrast, higher nonjuice fruit and vegetable intakes were significantly associated with lower chances of developing insomnia.

4.) Eat more fiber and less saturated fats. Avoid food choices with high amount of saturated fat (butter, red meat, chicken skin, whole dairy products) and focus on eating more fibers. An experimental study has found that higher percentage of energy from saturated fat was associated with more arousals and less deep sleep, while greater fiber intake was associated with more deep sleep.

5.) Avoid heavy meals prior to bedtime. Eating a large amount before bed can delay your sleep onset time and cause more awakenings. On the other hand, significant food restriction can cause more difficulty falling asleep and reduce the amount of deep sleep.
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Dr. Carvalho is with the Center for Sleep Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.


References
Clark I, Landolt HP. “Coffee, caffeine, and sleep: A systematic review of epidemiological studies and randomized controlled trials,” Sleep Med Rev. Feb;31 (2017):70-78. PMID: 26899133

Colrain IM, Nicholas CL, Baker FC. “Alcohol and the sleeping brain,” Handb Clin Neurol. 12 (2014) 5:415-31. PMID: 25307588

Kolla BP, Foroughi M, Saeidifard F, Chakravorty S, Wang Z, Mansukhani MP. “The impact of alcohol on breathing parameters during sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis,” Sleep Med Rev. Dec;42 (2018):59-67. PMID:
30017492

Afaghi A, O’Connor H, Chow CM. “High-glycemic-index carbohydrate meals shorten sleep onset,” Am J Clin Nutr. Feb;85(2) (2007):426-30. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/85.2.426. Erratum in: Am J Clin Nutr. Sep;86(3) (2007):809. PMID: 17284739

Gangwisch JE, Hale L, St-Onge MP, Choi L, LeBlanc ES, Malaspina D, Opler MG, Shadyab AH, Shikany JM, Snetselaar L, Zaslavsky O, Lane D. “High glycemic index and glycemic load diets as risk factors for insomnia: Analyses from the Women’s Health Initiative,” Am J Clin Nutr. Feb 1;111(2) (2020):429-439. PMCID: PMC6997082

Karklin A, Driver HS, Buffenstein R. “Restricted energy intake affects nocturnal body temperature and sleep patterns,” Am J Clin Nutr. Feb;59(2)(1994):346-9. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/59.2.346. PMID: 8310984


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