Somewhere along the line someone has probably told you that “what you eat is what you are”. Well, researchers in Sweden have found that how you eat is how you sleep.
A study at Uppsala University published in Obesity has determined that poor diet equals poor sleep. That, in turn, can lead to serious health problems.
Study Conditions
For the study, 15 individuals were fed healthy and unhealthy diets in random order. One week participants ate healthy diets. However, the next week, they were fed highly processed foods with high sugar and saturated fat.
Sleep was monitored for several days in a sleep laboratory after each diet.
“Specifically, we looked at slow-wave activity, a measure that can reflect how restorative deep sleep is. Intriguingly, we saw that deep sleep exhibited less slow-wave activity when the participants had eaten junk food, compared with consumption of healthier food,” said Jonathan Cedernaes, Physician and Associate Professor in Medical Cell Biology. “This effect also lasted into a second night, once we had switched the participants to an identical diet.
“Essentially, the unhealthy diet resulted in shallower deep sleep. Of note, similar changes in sleep occur with aging and in conditions such as insomnia. It can be hypothesized, from a sleep perspective, that greater importance should potentially be attached to diet in such conditions.”
Previous studies had examined the effect of specific foods, for example sugar. However, the Uppsala study is the first to examine the impact of poor overall diet on sleep.
Cost of Poor Diet
Two studies in 2019 tallied the impact of poor eating habits and poor sleep.
Poor diet accounts for 20 percent of healthcare costs in the United States, according to a joint study by Harvard University, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Tufts University. In other words, over $50 billion a year is spent treating diseases linked to highly processed food. Such diseases include obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke.
“There is a lot to be gained in terms of reducing risk and cost associated with heart disease, stroke, and diabetes by making relatively simple changes in one’s diet,” Dr. Thomas Gaziano, MD, MSc at Brigham said at the time. “Our study indicates that the foods we purchase at the grocery store can have a big impact.”
Cost of Poor Sleep
Insufficient sleep also costs the American economy at large. A Rand study determined that lack of sleep costs the economy $411 billion a year. That is almost 3 percent of GDP.
Much of that economic loss is associated with lower worker productivity. Rand determined that 1.2 million working days are lost each year due to a lack of sleep.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommends adults get at least seven hours of sleep. In addition, it warns that getting less can result in “adverse health outcomes.”
Significantly, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that about one in three U. S. adults do not get enough sleep on a regular basis.
How Junk Food Weighs You Down
A junk food diet is high in sodium, carbohydrates, and refined sugar. These combine to quickly hike your blood sugar. In response, your body produces a surge of insulin. As a result, your blood sugar plummets.
This blood sugar spike and crash leaves you feeling fatigued. As a result, you may experience sleep problems.
Sleep and Death
Consistently sleeping less than required has been linked to a higher death rate.
People sleeping less than six hours a night have a 13 percent higher mortality rate than those who sleep between seven and nine hours, according to Rand. However, If you average six hours of sleep per night and can increase that to seven hours, you cut the mortality risk in half.
What You Can Do
The Uppsala study adds to evidence supporting a healthy diet and adequate sound sleep. However, there are many factors that contribute to sleep problems. As well as junk food, they include smoking, lack of physical exercise, stress, mental health problems, financial concerns, and irregular work shifts.
Healthy Sleep Tips
A sleep disorder often requires treatment by a physician or therapist. However, there are things you can do to improve your sleep. The CDC and AASM offer several recommendations which include:
- Be consistent. Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning, including on the weekends;
- Set a bedtime that is early enough to get seven to eight hours of sleep;
- Establish a relaxing bedtime routine;
- Make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, relaxing, and at a comfortable temperature;
- Turn off electronic devices 30 minutes before going to bed and keep them out of your bedroom;
- Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol before bedtime;
- Get some exercise. Being physically active during the day can help you fall asleep more easily at night.
Healthy Eating Tips
In addition to helping you sleep better, eating properly can aid your overall health. Here are some suggestions from the UK’s National Health Service.
- Make high fiber whole grains one-third of your meals;
- Eat five portions of fruit and/or vegetables each day;
- Eat more fish – especially oily fish;
- Cut down on saturated fats and sugar;
- Consume no more than six grams of salt per day;
- Exercise;
- Drink six to eight glasses of water, low fat and low sugar drinks daily;
- Do not skip breakfast.
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Max K. Erkiletian began writing for newspapers while still in high school. He went on to become an award-winning journalist and co-founder of the print magazine Free Bird. He has written for a wide range of regional and national publications as well as many on-line publications. That has afforded him the opportunity to interview a variety of prominent figures from former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank Paul Volker to Blues musicians Muddy Waters and B. B. King. Max lives in Springfield, MO with his wife Karen and their cat – Pudge. He spends as much time as possible with his kids, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
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