Association of Sleep Quality and Macronutrient Distribution: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression

Abstract

Sleep is involved in metabolic, emotional and cognitive regulation and is therefore an essential part of our health. Although an association between sleep quality and macronutrient intake has been reported, studies on the effect of macronutrient distribution with sleep quality are limited, and available results are inconsistent. In this study, we aim to assess the association between sleep quality and macronutrient distribution in healthy adults from systematically reviewed cross-sectional studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). A total of 19 relevant articles were selected and it was observed that good sleepers (sleep duration ≥ 7 h, global sleep score ≤ 5, sleep latency ≤ 30 min and sleep efficiency >85%) had a higher energy distribution from dietary protein than poor sleepers. On the other hand, good sleepers showed a relatively lower percentage of energy from dietary carbohydrate and fat than poor sleepers. However, meta-regression analysis revealed no dose-dependent association between the macronutrient distributions and sleep duration. These results suggest that consuming a greater proportion of dietary protein may benefit on improving sleep quality in healthy adults. However, findings may be susceptible to reverse causality and additional RCTs are needed.

Association between the Degree of Processing of Consumed Foods and Sleep Quality in Adolescents

“…In a sleep intervention study, St-Onge et al [43] found that higher saturated fat and carbohydrate intake was associated with lighter sleep profile and more nocturnal sleep arousals, respectively. In a systematic review, people who slept poorly were observed to have a diet with a higher caloric contribution of carbohydrates and fats when compared to those who slept well [45]. We observed a high carbohydrate consumption among our subjects with a lower prevalence of poor sleep quality; however, this consumption was associated with a higher intake of fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and thereby justifies the positive impact of this macronutrient on sleep quality.…”

Effects of macronutrient intake on sleep duration and quality: A systematic review

“…St‐Onge et al 28 observed similar effects of CHO manipulation on sleep compared to ours; namely, CHO manipulation influenced sleep architecture, but the review did not distinguish acute vs long term manipulation. Sutano et al 29 concluded that good sleepers consumed more energy from protein and less from fat and carbohydrate compared to poor sleepers. Given the differences in approach, all of the reviews provide meaningful analyses of the diet‐sleep literature.…”

“…25 The present review excludes supplements due to the fact that minimal monitoring of supplements occurs in the United States and promoting their use could be unsafe in some cases. 26,27 Other reviews either did not include comparison groups 28 or included observational studies in their analyses, 22,29,30 which precludes discussions of causality. Still others included individuals suffering from various conditions that could serve as a confounding variable to both sleep and diet [31][32][33][34] ; therefore, it can be argued that clinical populations should be studied separately.…”

Mediterranean Diet on Sleep: A Health Alliance

“…In general, it has been shown that foods rich in melatonin (a sleep promoting hormone), or its precursors tryptophan and serotonin, micronutrients (vitamin D and B, magnesium, zinc), carbohydrate-containing foods, food items including cherries and fish, can improve sleep parameters (e.g., sleep latency, time, efficiency). Contrarily, caffeinated and sugar-rich beverages as well as high fat (mainly saturated fat) and processed foods may negatively affect sleep quality and duration [ 38 , 39 ].…”