Sleep Better by Making These Three Diet Changes

Getting better sleep might not only depend on your bedtime routine. What you eat during the day can also affect how well you sleep at night.

A study in the journal Clinical Sleep Medicine found that three parts of the food you eat might be linked to good sleep: fiber, saturated fat, and sugar. People who ate more fiber tended to have more deep sleep, which helps your body rest and recover. But eating more saturated fat and sugar was connected to poorer sleep.

Foods with fiber can help you have deeper, more restful sleep. In the study, people who ate more fiber spent less time in light sleep and more time in deep sleep, which is very good for your body. Adding more of these foods to your meals may help you sleep better. The study also found that eating more saturated fat was linked to less deep sleep.

That doesn’t mean all fats are bad, but it’s good to choose foods with healthy fats and eat fewer foods high in saturated fat. Swap some high-fat foods for vegetables, nuts, and whole grains to have a balanced diet. Sugar was another important part of the study. People who ate more sugar had more sleep problems and woke up more during the night.

They didn’t sleep less overall, but their sleep was not as good. Trying to eat less sugary foods and drinks, especially later in the day, might help if you have trouble sleeping. The study looked at 26 healthy adults, 13 women and 13 men, around 35 years old. They stayed in a sleep lab for five nights. First, they ate a set, controlled diet.

Then, they chose what to eat freely. The scientists compared how they slept after the controlled diet and after eating whatever they wanted. They found that eating the controlled diet helped people fall asleep faster and spend more time in deep sleep.

Overall sleep time didn’t change much, but sleep quality did. One of the researchers, Marie-Pierre St-Onge, said to eat more plant foods like fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Foods like bananas, cherries, tomatoes, pistachios, and walnuts have nutrients and fiber that can help you sleep well.