1 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:09,560 Speaker 1: Everyone, Welcome to another edition of Wisdom Wednesdays. Today, I'm 2 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: going to dive into a really interesting piece of research 3 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: that makes the point that your sleep tonight is actually 4 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,600 Speaker 1: heavily influenced by what you eat today. Now, this study 5 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: per detailed food logs from people with at home sleep 6 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: tracking to get a much clearer picture of how our 7 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: day to day datary changes impact not just how long 8 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: we sleep, but how well we sleep. And what they 9 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: found is actually pretty interesting. So they found that on 10 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: days where people ate more fiber and had a greater 11 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: diversity of plant based foods, they actually experienced more deep 12 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:51,880 Speaker 1: sleep and rem sleep, They had less light and fragmented sleep, 13 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: and they even had lower overnight heart rate. Now, on 14 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: the flip side, when diets were higher in process foods 15 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: and more animal based foods, sleep was more disturbed, with 16 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: more wakefulness during the night and what researchers described as 17 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: a less restorative sleep profile. And they also looked at 18 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: meal timing. When dinner made up a larger proportion of 19 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: total daily calories, people tended to sleep longer, but interestingly, 20 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: their overnight heart rate was higher, whereas a longer gap 21 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: between the last mail and bedtime was associated with slightly 22 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: less sleep but a lower overnight heartbrate, so it's clearly 23 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: a bit of a trade off. Now, one of the 24 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: things I really liked about the study that was the 25 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: way that was designed. Most research in this space compares 26 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 1: different people, so it might ask whether people who ate 27 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: better also slept better. 28 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 2: But the problem is that those people. 29 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: Also differ in a whole host of different ways, their 30 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: stress levels, their routines, socioeconomic status, overall health, whether they've exercised, 31 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: so it's hard to isolate diet a key factor in 32 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: their sleep. 33 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 2: But this study took a different approach. It looked at. 34 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: Variation within the same person. In other words, it asked, 35 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 1: when you eat differently from one day to the next, 36 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: does your sleep change that night? 37 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 2: And that's a much better question. So in the. 38 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: Study, they use data from nearly threey six hundred adults 39 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: in the Human Phenotype Project, which combined time stamp dietary 40 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: logs with validated in home sleep tracking. They measured everything 41 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: from total sleep time to sleep stages, how long it 42 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: took to fall asleep, how often people woke up, and 43 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: even their average sleeping heart rate. Now it's still not 44 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: a randomized control trial, so We can't say with absolute 45 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 1: certainty the diet causes these changes, but it's certainly getting closer. 46 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: The authors actually described it as a qua quasi causal 47 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: because it controls for stable traits like genetics and personality, 48 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: but it also gets it's the timing rate looking at 49 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: how today's diet effects tonight sleep. 50 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:07,519 Speaker 2: So let's dive into a little bit more. 51 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 1: What did they find when it comes to meal timing, Well, 52 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: it actually didn't drastically change the sleep stages. It mainly 53 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:19,639 Speaker 1: influenced sleep duration and how rared up the body was overnight. 54 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: For example, eating earlier about four hours before bed versus 55 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: two hours was linked to roughly twelve minutes less sleep, 56 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 1: but a slightly lower overnight heart rate, And probably that 57 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: overnight heart rate is because the digestive system wasn't working 58 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: as hard and your digestive system is very energy hungry now. 59 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: Having a larger dinner when it was about forty six 60 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: percent of daily calories versus twenty nine percent on average 61 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: was linked to about eight minutes more sleep, but again 62 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: in a higher overnight heart rate and a longer eating 63 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: window across the day, as in spreading your food out 64 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: for a wider period was a slow associated with a 65 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 1: slightly higher heart rate and falling asleep a little bit quicker. 66 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: So timing matters, but not as much as what you 67 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: do eat, because when it comes to sleep quality, particularly 68 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:16,480 Speaker 1: deep and rem sleep, diet composition had a real influence. 69 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 1: They found that higher fiber intake was associated with more 70 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:24,919 Speaker 1: restorative sleep, more deep and rem sleep, and less light 71 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: sleep and a lower overnight heart rate, and that for 72 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: me is the biggie from this study. And they also 73 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:35,239 Speaker 1: found that greater plant diversity, so eating a wider range 74 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: of plant foods, was linked to falling asleep faster, and 75 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: again a lower heart rate and a higher proportion of 76 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: plant based calories showed overall benefits that were quite similar. Interestingly, then, 77 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 1: when they dug into the macro nutrients protein, carbs, and 78 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 1: fat as percentages of total intake, they didn't find meaningful 79 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: short term effects on sleep, which suggests that at least 80 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: night tonight sleep may be more sensitive to food quality 81 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:08,159 Speaker 1: and timing than to tweaking your macros. Now, they also 82 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: looked at micronutrients and while most didn't show any strong 83 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: short term effects at all, a group of plant associated 84 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: nutrients did trend in a consistent direction. When I say train, 85 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: there wasn't a very clear distinction, but it did seem 86 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:27,960 Speaker 1: to point towards better sleep. 87 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 2: They found that. 88 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: Magnesium, vitamin C, foliate, and vitamin E were all associated 89 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,599 Speaker 1: with more deep and ram sleep and in some cases 90 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: longer sleep duration and lower heartbreal. So again we're seeing 91 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: this pattern of having lots of fruit and vegetables and 92 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: fiber and your diet seems to support better sleep. Now, 93 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: that's all about why that might be happening, because this 94 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:57,280 Speaker 1: where it does get interesting. One of the leading theories 95 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: is that fiber feeds that got microbiome. I think we've 96 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: all familiar with that, and we know that when the 97 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: gut microbim is fed with fiber, it produces short chained 98 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: fatty acids like butorrate, acetate, proprianate. And these aren't just 99 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: metabolic byproducts, they're actually act as signaling molecules. So in 100 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: animal studies, increasing buttorate levels has been shown to significantly 101 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 1: increase non rem sleep and even lower even lower your 102 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: body temperature or the body temperature of the animals, both 103 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: of which are linked to better sleep. Now, these compounds 104 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: also have a powerful influence on your gut brain axis. 105 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: They can increase serotonin production in the gut, and we 106 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 1: know that serotonin and plays a role in melatonin biology 107 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: and circadian rhythms, and they may also help regulate the 108 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: body's internal clock by influencing circarean signals in the gut. Now, 109 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: on top of that, the microbiome produces other sleep related 110 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:05,280 Speaker 1: compounds like gabba, trip to pan and melatonin, and all 111 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: of this is influenced by what we eat and when 112 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: we eat it, and we're seeing some of this translate 113 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: into human data as well. We know that high fiber 114 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:16,800 Speaker 1: intake has been linked to more slow wave of sleep, 115 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: so that deeper sleep and greater fruit and vegetable intake 116 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: has been associated with less disrupted sleep the same night, 117 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: and even prebiotic supplementation has been shown to increase non 118 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: rem sleep and time spent in bed. So clearly there's 119 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: something going on here and when we focus on things 120 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: like light exposure, screen time, and room temperature when it 121 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: comes to sleep and rightly so, but this research is 122 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: also a good reminder that diet is a big piece 123 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: of the puzzle as well, and from a practical standpoint, 124 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: meal timing does seem to matter and it doesn't mean 125 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: that everybody needs to follow the exact same rule. Some 126 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: people may benefit from meeting closer to bad time, especially 127 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: if it helps with hunger or sleep bondset, or if 128 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: they are trying to build or maintained muscle they want 129 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: to have protein close to bad time. 130 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 2: But what this study really. 131 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 1: Suggests is that if you want to improve your sleep, 132 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: it's worth experimenting. Try leaning into more fruit, vegetables and 133 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: fiber rich foods during the day, Maybe keep your evening 134 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: meal a little bit lighter and have a heavier lunch 135 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: and breakfast rather than backloading all your calories, and see 136 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,680 Speaker 1: how your body responds, because ultimately, it's about finding what 137 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 1: works for you. 138 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 2: So that's it for this week, folks, Catch you next time.