Poor Nutrition Can Bite Into Your Sleep, Experts Say

People with most varied diets are also best-rested, study finds

Researchers found that certain nutrients may play a role in sleep duration. And they also concluded that people who eat a wide variety of foods (an indicator of an overall healthy diet) had the healthiest sleep patterns.

"Although many of us inherently recognize that there is a relationship between what we eat and how we sleep, there have been very few scientific studies that have explored this connection, especially in a real-world situation," Michael Grandner, an instructor in psychiatry and member of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, said in a school news release.

"In general, we know that those who report between seven and eight hours of sleep each night are most likely to experience better overall health and well-being," Grandner noted, "so we simply asked the question, 'Are there differences in the diet of those who report shorter sleep, longer sleep, or standard sleep patterns?'"

Grandner and his colleagues analyzed data from the 2007-2008 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and found that short sleepers (five to six hours a night) consumed the most calories, followed by normal sleepers (seven to eight hours), very short sleepers (fewer than five hours), and long sleepers (nine or more hours).

As for eating a well-rounded diet, normal sleepers consumed the most varied diet, and short sleepers consumed the least varied diet, according to the study released online in advance of print publication in the journal Appetite.

Very short sleep was associated with lower intake of a chemical called lycopene (which is found in red- and orange-colored foods, such a tomatoes), total carbohydrates and tap water. Short sleep was associated with lower intake of vitamin C, tap water, selenium (a mineral found in nuts, meat and shellfish) and higher intake of nutrients found in green, leafy vegetables (called lutein and zeaxanthin).

Long sleep was associated with lower intake of a substance found in chocolate and tea (called theobromine), a saturated fat called dodecanoic acid, choline (which is found in eggs and fatty meats), total carbohydrates, and a higher intake of alcohol.