If you’ve ever struggled with tossing, turning or waking up throughout the night, the solution might not be in your pillow but on your plate.
A new study from the University of Chicago Medicine and Columbia University found that people who ate more fruits, vegetables and healthy carbs during the day experienced better-quality sleep that same night. The research, published in Sleep Health, is one of the first to show a same-day connection between diet and objectively measured sleep outcomes.
Using wrist monitors and a meal-tracking app, the study followed healthy young adults and tracked how daytime food choices affected their sleep that night. The researchers looked at sleep fragmentation — how often someone wakes up or shifts between sleep stages — and found that higher intake of produce and whole grains was linked to deeper, more continuous rest.
In fact, the data suggests that eating five cups of fruits and vegetables — the amount recommended by the CDC — could improve sleep quality by about 16%, compared to eating none. That kind of improvement can make a real difference in how rested you feel the next day.
“Dietary modifications could be a new, natural and cost-effective approach to achieve better sleep,” said co-senior author Esra Tasali, MD, director of the UChicago Sleep Center.
The researchers emphasize that while more work is needed to explore how digestion, metabolism and brain chemistry contribute to this link, the findings support a growing body of evidence that food and sleep are more connected than we might think. And the best part? The benefits may start showing up in less than 24 hours.
“It’s remarkable that such a meaningful change could be observed within less than 24 hours,” Tasali said.
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the University of Chicago’s Diabetes Research and Training Center.