Relationship between food intake and sleep pattern in healthy individuals.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional observational study correlating dietary records with polysomnography.
PubMed 22171206 · doi:10.5664/jcsm.1476
What was done
Fifty-two healthy adult volunteers (27 women and 25 men) were assessed for dietary intake using a 3-day food diary and evaluated for objective sleep parameters using nocturnal polysomnography.
What was found
The abstract does not report numerical correlation coefficients, confidence intervals, or p-values. Across genders, sleep patterns did not differ significantly except for a higher percentage of stage 1 sleep in men. In men, nocturnal fat intake showed a negative relationship with sleep latency and REM sleep latency. In women, the percentage of nocturnal fat intake correlated with sleep efficiency, sleep latency, REM latency, stage 2 sleep, REM sleep, and wake after sleep onset (WASO), while nocturnal caloric intake correlated with sleep latency and efficiency.
Why it matters
The study suggests that timing and composition of food intake, particularly nocturnal fat consumption close to bedtime, relate to objective measures of sleep quality and architecture in healthy adults, with potential differences between men and women.
Limits
The study is cross-sectional and observational, preventing any determination of causality. The sample size is small (52 participants). The abstract provides no exact quantitative values or statistical effect sizes. Food intake was measured via self-reported diaries, which are vulnerable to reporting bias. Confounders such as baseline chronotype, sleep schedule variability, and physical activity were not detailed.
Cited by
- partial Eating within two to three hours before bed directs blood flow to the stomach and keeps core body temperature elevated, impairing deep sleep.