You may not need to spend money on supplements or accessories that promote better sleep
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A new study found that the key to better sleep may be linked with your diet.
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Researchers found that those who eat more fruits and veggies during the day are likely to wake up less during the night and have better overall sleep quality.
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Meeting the CDCs recommended five cups of fruits and veggies each day can lead to significant improvements in sleep quality.
A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine explored how our diets can impact our sleep quality.
Their work found that eating more fruits and veggies might be an easy way for consumers to get better sleep.
Dietary modifications could be a new, natural and cost-effective approach to achieve better sleep, co-senior author Esra Tasali, MD, director of the UChicago Sleep Center, said in a news release.
The temporal associations and objectively-measured outcomes in this study represent crucial steps toward filling a gap in important public health knowledge.
The study
The researchers had 34 healthy young adults involved in the study. When the study began, they had a history of sleeping seven to nine hours per night.
The researchers tracked two key metrics for the duration of the study: the participants diets and sleep habits. Diet was measured using the Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour Dietary Assessment Tool, while participants wore wrist monitors that specifically tracked sleep fragmentation to measure their sleep.
Sleep fragmentation measures the specifics of sleeping patterns, including how much time you spend in the different sleep cycles, how often you wake up, and more.
The results
Ultimately, the researchers noticed a correlation between the participants' diets and their sleep quality.
Participants who ate the most fruits and vegetables but not added sugar had the best sleep quality. There were fewer disruptions to their sleep cycle, and they were more likely to get deep sleep.
On the other hand, participants who reported higher quantities of red and processed meats were also waking up more in the middle of the night.
"People are always asking me if there are things they can eat that will help them sleep better, co-senior author Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Ph.D., director of the Center of Excellence for Sleep & Circadian Research at Columbia, said in the news release. Small changes can impact sleep. That is empowering better rest is within your control.
Aim for five cups a day
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that consumers aim for five cups of fruits and vegetables each day.
Using this benchmark, the researchers estimated that if consumers were to meet this recommendation, they could increase their sleep quality by 16%.
16 percent is a highly significant difference, Dr. Tasali said. Its remarkable that such a meaningful change could be observed within less than 24 hours.
Posted: 2025-06-13 18:04:48
