We all know how important a healthy diet is. We also know how important good quality sleep is. Despite this, few people link the two. When we think about sleep, we often confuse quantity with quality, thinking that more sleep automatically means better, when actually that’s very far from the truth.
In this article we’re going to explore the link between our diets and the quality of sleep we get.
A longer sleep is often lower quality than a shorter sleep, if you haven’t entered the deeper, most restful and restorative phases of the sleep cycle known as ‘stage 3’ and ‘REM sleep/stage 4 sleep’. It’s during these phases where most of the growth, repair, brain activity and memory consolidation takes place so without enough of the deep sleep, you can wake feeling tired.
Understanding this is important, because it shifts our focus from sleep quantity to sleep quality.
Food and the Impacts on Sleep
To begin with, we have to address how food impact sleep. There’s no ‘magic’ food that if we eat, it sends us to sleep - that’s a myth perpetuated by gossip magazines that also tell you squatting with bean tins in your hands will build a great body. If such a food existed, it would be banned whilst driving or operating heavy machinery!
What actually happens is the reverse - there are food and drink that if we eat, negatively impacts our sleep quality. The first step to using your diet to improve sleep quality is to remove the alcohol, because it has been proven to dramatically impact sleep quality.
In a 2005 study, it was shown that alcohol initially promotes sleep, but overall the quality of the sleep was impacted because of the effect alcohol has on sleep physiology. This research has been further corroborated by subsequent studies reporting the same thing, such as this 2020 study. The conclusion between alcohol and sleep is that some alcohol (1-2 units) isn’t a bad thing before sleeping, but excessive alcohol will have an impact on sleep quality.
Caffeine and Sleep Quality
The most famous legal stimulant we have is caffeine and it is largely attributed to keeping people awake. This is backed up in the research as well. In this study shows that caffeine consumption as far away as 6 hours before bed, a dose of caffeine impacted sleep quality. This lead the researchers to conclude that to be certain caffeine will not impact the quality of your sleep, you should be refraining from caffeine consumption for up to 6 hours before bed.
At this point, it’s important to remember that caffeine isn’t just present in coffee and tea - it’s also present in chocolate and many soft drinks.
Before you start to worry you shouldn’t be drinking coffee, it’s worth remembering that there’s a dose-response relationship here, so whilst it’s a good idea to not drink coffee in the lead up to bed time, you don’t have to give it up altogether! Taking a sensible approach, you’re probably fine not drinking strong coffee in the final 3 hours before bed. If you hit the sack at 11, probably stop drinking coffee at 8 and you should be OK!
Food and Sleep - More Research
There’s a lot of research around the impact of food patterns and sleep cycles. The conclusions they tend to draw are similar - that food quality has the biggest impact, rather than the timings or the nature of meal.
In this review of many nutrition and sleep studies, we see a series of commonalities amongst the results, which can be summarised here…
Low quality carbs (sugar, fizzy drinks, processed carbs such as super noodles) soon before bed significantly reduce sleep quality and quantity.
Carbohydrate amount can adjust rather than disrupt sleep, depending on the person.
High food quality is more important than macronutrient split.
Low calorie consumption doesn’t appear to impact sleep.
Vitamin and mineral deficiency appears to negatively impact sleep, so a daily multivitamin may be worth taking.
Very high protein intake shortly before bed may impact sleep.
The overarching point when it comes to food and sleep is that we’re all different and there’s an element of experimentation that we all have to go through, to find what works for us and what doesn't. Whilst your sleep habits have to be guided by certain principles that stand up to testing, the rest of it is a case of finding out what works for you.
We used to think that certain foods will help you to fall asleep or would promote sleep, but research shows that whilst that may be the case, the evidence in support of it isn’t particularly strong at this point. Certainly not strong enough to recommend certain foods as a sleep aid. There are certain supplements that have been linked to sleep quality, which we’ll go through now.
Sleep and Supplements
Some of the research we looked at earlier discussed the impact that vitamin and mineral deficiency can have on sleep. The minerals zinc and magnesium are known to promote deeper sleep, but your requirements should be met by consuming meat/animal products or taking a good quality multivitamin.
Another known sleep aid is CBD oils, dummies or tinctures. Research has shown that intake helps to promote sleep quality, especially in those who have suffered from anxiety. If you’ve struggled with sleep because of stress, it may be worth exploring the use of CBD before bed.
Sleep Tips - Food and Otherwise
It’s now clear from the research that sleep quality isn’t attributed to one single thing, but instead it’s a number of factors that we need to consider. What we can say with confidence is that in order to enjoy good quality sleep, you should do the following…
Don’t drink more than a couple of alcoholic drinks before bed.
No caffeine in the 3-6 hours before sleep.
Eat a healthy meal, ideally on the smaller side. No simple carbs.
Make sure you’ve taken your multivitamins.
Avoid screen time before bed.
Keep your bedroom cool.
Establish a regular bed time.
If you’re stressed, take a CBD supplement.
If you do those on a regular basis you should be able to enjoy good quality sleep. Whilst there’s no one single magic bullet, there’s plenty of things you can bring under your control to help you sleep well!
Training With us at AdMac Fitness…
At AdMac Fitness we’re not about fads, fashions and short term fixes. We want you to succeed properly over the long term, so with our help and advice you can get your fitness back on track! If you’d like us to help you, contact us on 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!