Sleep can be a modifiable risk factor for various conditions such as cardio-metabolic disease and obesity. Some figures suggest that more than one third of adults do not get enough sleep.
Getting longer sleep each night is a simple lifestyle step intervention that may possibly help to reduce intake of sugary foods and in general lead to a healthier diet according to a study conducted by the researchers at King’s College London as published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
This randomised controlled trial investigated the feasibility of increasing the amount of hours slept in adults that normally slept for less than the recommended minimum number of hours for adults each night which is 7. The researchers also investigated the impact of increasing the amount of sleep hours on nutrient intake. The team found that extending the sleep patterns resulted in a 10 gram reduction in sugars as compared to the baseline levels reported. It was noted the trends for reduced levels of intake in carbohydrates reported with increased sleep. Both reductions suggest that a simple lifestyle change may help people to eat healthier diets.
42 participants were involved in the study, 21 were in the control group that received no interventions with their sleep patterns, and 21 were allocated to the sleep extension group who underwent a 45 minutes sleep consultation with the goal to extend their sleep time by 1.5 hours each night. Participants in the extension group received a list with a minimum of 4 sleep hygiene behaviours that were appropriate and personalised to their individual lifestyles, which included things such as establishing a relaxing routine, not going to bed too full or hungry, a recommended bedtime, and avoiding caffeine before bedtime.
For 7 days following their consultations the participants kept food and sleep diaries and wore a sensor on their wrists that measured how long the participants slept for and how much time was spent in bed before they fell asleep. There was no differences in sleep shown in the control group. 86% of the participants who had received sleep advice spent increased time in bed and half of them increased their duration of sleep ranging from 52 to 90 minutes. 3 participants were able to achieve a weekly average within the recommended 7-9 hours per night. The data suggested that the extended sleep may have been of less quality than the control group and the researchers believe that a period of adjustment period to any new routine may be required.
Sleep quality and duration is an area of increased public health concern and has been linked as a risk factor for various conditions. The study serves to give evidence that sleep habits can be changed with ease in healthy adults, and suggests that increasing the amount of time in bed for at least an hour each night may lead to healthier food choices, strengthening links between poor sleep patterns and poor diets that has been observed in previous studies.
The team plans to investigate these findings with long term studies that examine the nutrient intake with adherence to sleep extension behaviours in greater details, especially in the populations that are at risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease.
