Certain foods may affect sleep

Certain nutrients may play a role in how much sleep a person gets each night.

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania analysed data from the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which includes demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, and healthrelated questions.

The authors found total caloric intake varied across groups. Short sleepers consumed the most calories, followed by normal sleepers, and then very short sleepers and long sleepers.

Food variety was highest in normal sleepers, and lowest in very short sleepers. Differences across groups were found for many types of nutrients, including proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.

They found that total caloric intake varied across groups. Short sleepers consumed the most calories, followed by normal sleepers, followed by very short sleepers, and then by long sleepers.

In a statistical analysis, the research team found there were a number of dietary differences, but these were largely driven by a few key nutrients.

They found very short sleep was associated with less intake of tap water, lycopene (found in red- and orange-colored foods), and total carbohydrates;short sleep was associated with less vitamin C, tap water, selenium (found in nuts, meat and shellfish), and more lutein/zeaxanthin (found in green, leafy vegetables); and long sleep was associated with less intake of theobromine (found in chocolate and tea), dodecanoic acid (a saturated fat) choline (found in eggs and fatty meats), total carbohydrates, and more alcohol.

“Overall, people who sleep seven to eight hours each night differ in terms of their diet, compared to people who sleep less or more. We also found short and long sleep is associated with lower food variety,” lead author, Dr Grandner, said.