The Diet – Sleep Connection

I think most people are aware that getting good sleep and eating a relatively healthy diet are essential to good health and feeling one’s best. What may come as a surprise though is just how much sleep and diet interact with each other – for better or worse!

Several studies have found that lack of sleep tends to lead to a worse diet and a worse diet tends to lead to lack of sleep. Doing better with either side of the equation typically leads to improvements in the other, as well as things like improved energy, mental focus, and weight management (the function of a variety of hormones is tied to sleep and can dramatically impact metabolism).

Part of the issue is that reduced sleep produces increased activity in the brain’s food-based reward centers, as well as suppresses the satiety centers. In other words, you’ll want to eat “rewarding” foods high in sugar, fat, and salt, and it will take longer for you to feel full, so you’ll want to eat more of them.

Eating more sugar and fat makes it harder to sleep restfully, continuing the cycle of poor sleep leading to poor eating habits, leading back to poor sleep.

Cycles of other poor health habits also exist – such as poor diet leading to low physical activity and exercise, but the interaction of sleep and diet is particularly strong due to the hormone effects produced by diminished sleep.

The good news is that it’s often possible to improve both sleep and diet by making a positive change in either one. Both sleep and diet habits may require some thought and discipline to change, with one being more difficult for a given individual than the other.

In some cases, it may be easiest to shift one’s bed time to allow for more sleep. It’s generally recommended to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night, but because you probably take a little time to fall asleep, you need to allow extra time in bed to hit that target – perhaps an additional 15 to 30 minutes. It’s also been found that a consistent bed time – give or take about 30 minutes – is important to allow your body to establish sleep rhythms and to get the best quality sleep.

By the way, you generally can’t “force” yourself to sleep. I suggest going to bed with the idea of simply going to bed and not stressing out if you find it difficult to fall asleep. If you aren’t falling asleep (and the problem is not physical discomfort that needs to be addressed), you might try some meditation or deep breathing exercises to help quiet your mind.

If you consistently have trouble getting to sleep or getting restful sleep, it may be more effective to focus on diet. Reducing your intake of highly processed foods, especially those high in sugar and fat, is usually helpful. Of course, it’s also important to avoid caffeine and similar compounds in coffee, tea, soft drinks, and chocolate after about 3:00 PM. Other stimulants, such as nicotine, should of course also be avoided.

Although consuming alcohol is often thought of as relaxing – and it does suppress functioning in the central nervous system – it requires some work on the part of the liver, and this activity can interfere with sleep as the initial sedative effects begin to wane. Research on alcohol consumption indicates that it probably should be pretty limited in general, but in any event, like caffeine, it’s best to avoid or at least limit alcohol consumption later in the day.

Bear in mind that any changes you make may take several days to produce benefits – hormonal cycles take some time to adjust. Try to be patient and stay consistent with your approach. If after a few weeks you’re not getting the results you were hoping for, reassess and perhaps come at the problem from a different angle – modify your diet in a different way, change your bedtime, modify your activities in the few hours before you go to bed, etc..

Until next time…

George F. Best, D.C.