How much sleep do I need?

We all know that sleep is crucial for our health. Most people need between 5-9 hours each night. The presumed “ideal” amount of sleep is 8 hours yet we know that everyone is different. So some people may need more and others may need less – I NEED MORE, ALWAYS MORE…

What happens if I suffer from a lack of sleep?

It can be incredibly difficult to get as much sleep as you need. And poor sleep does not come without consequences! A few nights of not hitting those 8 hours and you might find yourself not feeling as focussed as usual. You may get agitated more easily, and be more susceptible to stress.

However, chronic poor sleep can have some dangerous side effects. Poor sleep quality and long-term insufficient sleep duration has been linked to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Long-term, you might find that your mood dips. And you may have trouble with your memory and in making important decisions.

Does a lack of sleep cause poor diet choices and weight gain?

When it comes to the effects of poor sleep on our weight however, it can be difficult to know if poor sleep causes us to gain weight, or if carrying excess weight makes it more difficult for us to get enough sleep.

Any research really into the causes and effects of our dietary decisions is very complicated. Often all we can say is that we think there is a link between one behaviour and another. But rarely do we know which came first. However, lets try to tease out a few of these potential links between our sleep and our weight.

Diet and Sleep:  Physical discomfort of weight

Firstly, it’s thought that the physical discomfort of being overweight can reduce your ability to have a good night’s sleep.  Obesity puts us at risk of something called sleep apnoea, which may cause us to have difficulty breathing at night. Also, reflux is more common in those with higher body weights. And that burning sensation gets even worse when you lay down flat when going to bed. Therefore it may lead to difficulties in falling asleep. So it isn’t surprising that there may be a link between obesity and poor sleep quality.

Diet and Sleep: Less sleep = more time to eat

Some studies suggest that the link between our diets and our weights is actually quite simple! People who sleep less are simply awake for more hours. Which means that they have more time to eat. This then naturally leads to them eating more calories than someone who spends at least 8 hours in bed, away from that tempting fridge.

Diet and sleep: Stress

However, the actual lack of sleep does appear to have more ingrained effects on our appetites and dietary choices. For example, research shows that people who sleep for less than 7 hours a night are more susceptible to stress. And its shown that people who have a tendency to eat when they are stressed, tend to choose higher fat and higher calorie foods during these stressful times. So less sleep may lead to more stress, which in turn can lead to people eating more junk food.

Diet and Sleep: Tiredness and hunger

Studies also show that sleep deprivation can increase your risk of weight gain by causing you to feel more hungry. A study was done where one group of people were given just 4 hours of sleep a night. The other group were allowed to sleep for 10 hours. The group that slept for just 4 hours reported to feel significantly more hungry than the other group. And they had a much higher appetite for specifically high fat and high sugar foods.

Diet and Sleep: Hunger hormones

This may be related to the fact that our hunger hormones are in part affected by our sleep. Sleep deprivation has shown to increase the production of a hormone called ghrelin. This hormone is the one that increases our hunger levels. Meanwhile your levels of leptin, a hormone that supresses your appetite, are reduced when you sleep less. So sleep deprivation increases our hunger hormones and reduce our satiety hormones. Thereby it completely throws our appetite off track.

Diet and Sleep: Metabolism

Meanwhile, sleeping less can obviously lead to us feeling tired and groggy. And who wants to work out when even walking up a stairs seems like a chore? People who are tired are shown to be less physically active, and therefore may have slower metabolisms. And chronic sleep deprivation in its own right may lead to a drop in body temperature. Hence your metabolism is slowed down even further.

So whether people who are overweight find it more difficult sleep because of physical discomfort, or a lack of sleep can increase our body weights by leaving us with more time to eat, increased stress related eating, increased hunger levels and a reduced metabolism – one thing stands true.

Improving your sleep quality may at least leave you feeling more refreshed in the morning. And at best perhaps help you stay a healthy weight and reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes!

So can we do anything with our diet to help us to sleep better?

Sleep and our overall diet

Well firstly, it is repeatedly seen in studies that people who have healthy sleeping patterns have diets that are full of:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Wholegrains
• Healthy fats
• B-vitamins from fish and lean meats

Again whether these types of diets cause better sleep, or whether well rested people choose healthier diets is still uncertain. But some studies are showing for example that certain dietary habits can improve our sleep quality.

Timing of meals before bed

For example, people who avoid meals within 4 hours of bedtime may find it easier to fall asleep. Digestion is an active process, and perhaps the physical digestion of food can keep people from falling asleep easily. Also, reflux is more common after a meal. So leaving that 4 hour gap between eating and bedtime will allow your stomach to start emptying before you lay-down.

Evening meal and its effect on sleep

Interestingly enough, the meal that you choose to eat those 4 hours before bed may possibly influence your sleep quality. Choosing a meal that is high in wholegrain carbohydrates, contains moderate amounts of lean protein and is low in saturated fat may help you fall asleep quicker. And it may even help you to have a better quality of sleep overall. This is potentially because this type of meal is easier to digest. However, some studies are now looking into the effect that this type of meal may have on our sleep hormones! Early results are showing that perhaps this high carb meal at 4 hours before bedtime can cause a spike in our serotonin levels right at the time when you want to fall asleep. Serotonin is known to help you to fall asleep. And so it is looking like food may have a role to play in affecting our sleeping hormones. However, the evidence needs to become clearer before we can say for sure!

And then there are some specific foods that are thought to help us fall asleep or keep us awake.

Caffeine and alcohol before bed are clear causes of difficulties falling asleep and poor sleep quality. However, some foods that are thought to help us sleep may have more mystical qualities. Hot milk, kiwis, cherries – the list of suggested foods goes on. And while the evidence is lacking for these effects, some studies suggest again that these foods may be affecting our serotonin, or melatonin levels, helping us to fall asleep easier.

Other suggestions are that for example kiwis are a great source of folate. Folate is often used to reduce something called “restless leg syndrome”. And perhaps this dose of folate from kiwis before bed is helping people with this syndrome to fall asleep easier.

Food as a bedtime ritual

The more you go into the research on specific foods and their effects on sleep, the more you need to weed out the fact from the fiction. And the vaguer the evidence becomes. Yet perhaps there is something that each of these “sworn by” remedies have in common. Could it be the ritual of taking them at a certain time before bed? Many sleep experts swear by the importance of a bed-time ritual. This allows you to slow down your mind and leave the day behind. Maybe eating a certain food at a certain time before bed is simply just that – getting into the right mind frame to go to sleep?

But no matter what the evidence will say in the future on each of these foods, one thing remains clear in all the research available on diets and sleep:

Diets high in wholegrain carbohydrates, high in veg and fruit, contain moderate amounts of protein and are low in saturated fat may not just benefit our sleep – they are also the diet we advise for healthy bodies and weights.

In my next post, I will delve even deeper into the different strategies that sleep experts recommend will help you to get to sleep faster, and have a better quality sleep! I will share the top 12 tips to improve your sleeping habits!

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