Effects Of Carbohydrates On Sleep
by Doug Stewart
Can carbs help you fall asleep faster and/or make you sleep better?
Bad nights? They happen. Being unable to sleep or having poor quality sleep occasionally is normal and nothing to worry about. However, if it happens on a regular basis, you might be interested to understand whether there is a special cause for it.
Numerous illnesses are linked to insufficient sleep, and nutritional factors to improve sleep have been investigated. Research has found that dietary supplements have demonstrated positive benefits on sleep quality. According to two recent reviews, eating foods high in melatonin, such as fruits, vegetables, milk, and cherry juice, may help people fall asleep. In addition, research shows that carbohydrates (CHO) are linked to changes in sleep phases, sleep time, sleep continuity, and sleep start latency.
Although a thorough study of the impact of CHO intake on sleep has not yet been conducted, a recent systematic review on the effects of carbohydrates on sleep may help highlight the role CHO could have on your sleep. Below are 4 of the most interesting findings. You’ll see the results emphasise the impact of diet, particularly CHO, on sleep:
A smaller amount of dietary CHO intake was shown to significantly lengthen stage 3 NREM sleep. This stage is also known as deep sleep. Experts think this sleep stage is the most crucial for rejuvenating your body and brain. During this phase, the body repairs damaged tissue, muscles, and bones while also releasing growth hormones. All this is key for recovery from your training! Additionally, deep sleep is thought to influence memory, hormone release, immune system activity, and glucose metabolism.
A higher amount of dietary CHO intake was found to prolong REM stage sleep. REM sleep is known for the most vivid dreams, which is demonstrated by significant uptake in brain activity. It is thought to be crucial for cognitive processes like memory, learning, and creativity.
The quality of CHO consumption had no noticeable effect on the phases of sleep. In other words, it does not matter what type of carbohydrates you eat – sugar, starches, fibres, they all have the same effect on sleep.
Sleep onset latency seems to be affected by both CHO quantity and quality. So the more carbs you eat prior to going to bed, the more difficult you may find it to fall asleep. Plus, food with a high glycaemic index (such as sweets and white bread) may prolong the time you need to fall asleep even more or may make you wake up after sleep onset.
While some of the findings from this review need to be studied further, as there might be some biases with regards to good or bad sleepers, it can be assumed that carbohydrate intake does affect the sleep of everyone and hence deserves attention, especially in cases where you are finding it tough to get good quality sleep.
References:
Vlahoyiannis A, Giannaki CD, Sakkas GK, Aphamis G, Andreou E. A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression on the Effects of Carbohydrates on Sleep. Nutrients. 2021 Apr 14;13(4):1283. doi: 10.3390/nu13041283. PMID: 33919698; PMCID: PMC8069918.