A healthy body relies on healthy eating, adequate exercise, and . So, what is the impact of nutrition on sleep? A new study focuses on the relationship between fruit and vegetable intake and sleep duration, and the results suggest that eating more fruits and vegetables may make it easier for people to achieve optimal sleep duration.
This study was conducted by a team from the University of Helsinki in Finland, the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland, and Turku University of Applied Sciences, and was published in the recent journal “Frontiers in Nutrition”.
A total of 5043 adults aged 18 and older (55.9% female; average age 55 years) submitted a questionnaire containing 134 questions to the researchers, covering the composition and frequency of their daily food intake over the past 12 months, as well as reporting their sleep type (tendency to sleep at a certain time of day) and typical sleep duration within 24 hours.
From these questionnaire surveys, the researchers identified three sleep categories: short sleep duration (less than 7 hours per day), normal sleep duration (7-9 hours per day), and long sleep duration (more than 9 hours per day). Most participants (61.7%) classified themselves as having normal sleep duration.
In the survey results, the researchers noted that individuals with normal sleep duration had higher intake of fruits and vegetables compared to short and long sleepers. However, consuming different types of fruits and vegetables yielded different results.
The researchers explained that there were significant differences in the intake of leafy vegetables, root vegetables, and fruit vegetables (such as tomatoes and cucumbers) between individuals with normal sleep duration and those with short or long sleep duration. The less fruits and vegetables consumed, the more likely individuals were to have either short or long sleep duration.
