Introduction
Nutrition and sleep are two essential functions for the physiological existence of the organism. Furthermore, both have an acquired cultural, educational and social behavioral component. This study examined the effect of nocturnal dinner type (“light” vs. “heavy”) on the quality and quantity of sleep, attention abilities, fatigue, and mood in the following morning. In addition, the microbial composition was examined.
Methods
Twenty healthy subjects (10 men and 10 women), aged 25–33, were invited to two non-consecutive nights at the Sleep Institute for polysomnography test and filling out questionnaires: KSS; ESS; and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), attention abilities assessed with CPT-III. In one evening, the subjects consumed two hours before bedtime a “light” dinner based on vegetable ingredients (vegetables and vegetable proteins) with 342 calories that contained lentils, feta cheese, beet, and other vegetables. On the other evening, the subjects consumed two hours before bedtime a “heavy” dinner based on carbohydrates, fats, and animal protein with 501 calories that contained hamburger and French fries. In addition, subjects were required to give a microbial test before and after meals.
Results
There was no significant difference in the various sleep parameters between the two nights after each meal type: efficacy (t=-1.51,p=0.15); sleep latency stage 1 (t=1.81,p=0.08); sleep latency stage 2 (t=1.00,p=0.33); REM latency (t=0.57,p=0.57); total sleep time (t=-1.57,p=0.13); number of awakenings (t=0.30, p=0.76). No significant differences were found for: fatigue (KSS) (t=-0.30,p =0.77); sleepiness (ESS) (t=0.76,p =0.45); mood (BSI) (t=0.87,p =0.39); and attention deficit (CPT-III) (t=-0.68,p =0.50). The type of night meal did not show a significant effect on the microbial composition (H=0.059,p= 0.81).
Conclusion
The findings of this study show that, contrary to popular belief, “heavy” dinner did not affect the quality of sleep and functions measured in the study compared to a “light” dinner. In the current research, the population that was examined included only young and healthy subjects, therefore, the results may differ if the research in this field will extend and include other populations such as adults and subjects with different disorders. Future studies are needed to examine the relationships between sleep and nutrtion.
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