Eating more fruits and vegetables will help you get better sleep

Eating more fruit, vegetables, and other complex carbohydrates during the day appears to deliver measurable improvements in sleep that very same night.

A new study tracking healthy adults shows that a produce-rich menu reduces the overnight tossing and turning that fragments restful sleep.

Researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine and Columbia University designed the experiment to move beyond earlier surveys and link specific daytime meals to the quality of that evening’s rest.

“Dietary modifications could be a new, natural, and cost-effective approach to achieve better sleep,” said co-senior author Dr. Esra Tasali, director of the UChicago Sleep Center.

“The temporal associations and objectively measured outcomes in this study represent crucial steps toward filling a gap in important public health knowledge.”

Tracking what you eat

Most previous work looked at how poor sleep drives people toward sugary, high-fat foods. The new project flipped the question: could consciously better eating shape sleep for the better?

Volunteers logged everything they consumed on a smartphone app and wore wrist monitors that recorded every micro-awakening, using a measure called “sleep fragmentation” to gauge quality.

Those fragmentation readings, calculated in minute-by-minute detail, allowed the team to compare how each individual slept after a produce-rich versus a produce-poor day.

Fruit bowls pay off for sleep

The analysis revealed a clear pattern. When participants approached or met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guideline of five cups of fruits and vegetables, they spent more time in uninterrupted, restorative phases of sleep.

Whole-grain intake had a similar, albeit smaller, association. For someone eating no produce, making the leap to five cups predicted a 16 percent reduction in sleep fragmentation.

“Sixteen percent is a highly significant difference,” said Dr. Tasali. “It’s remarkable that such a meaningful change could be observed within less than 24 hours.”

Why fruits and veggies help sleep

Scientists are still untangling the biology behind these rapid gains. Fiber-rich foods slow digestion and stabilize blood sugar, which can limit the nocturnal spikes that jolt the brain into lighter sleep.

Produce also delivers micronutrients that feed gut bacteria; those microbes generate neurotransmitters tied to the body’s circadian timing system.

Anti-inflammatory compounds may calm the cardiovascular system, nudging heart rate and blood pressure toward a sleep-friendly set point.

Future trials will probe hormones, microbiome shifts, and brain-wave patterns to pin down the dominant pathway.

Bigger picture sleep lessons

Compared with drug therapies, dietary tweaks carry almost no risk and cost little – a critical advantage at a time when chronic sleep loss undermines health, productivity, and mood for millions.

Participants in the experiment were young adults, but the design can be extended to older populations or people with metabolic disease to see whether benefits scale or shrink.

Because the monitoring was continuous, the authors could see changes night after night, opening the door to clinical trials in which the focus is on specific individuals who test how specific foods influence their own sleep.

Food as a first-line sleep aid

Study co-senior author Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge is the director of the Center of Excellence for Sleep & Circadian Research at Columbia University.

“People are always asking me if there are things they can eat that will help them sleep better,” said Dr. St-Onge. “Small changes can impact sleep. That is empowering – better rest is within your control.”

Public health agencies already push Americans toward produce for heart and metabolic health. The new findings give those guidelines a night-time payoff as well.

A 16 percent improvement translates to fewer awakenings, more consolidated deep stages, and a smoother transition into morning alertness – effects as large as some prescription sleep aids but without their side effects.

Tips for better sleep

The scientists plan randomized, controlled feeding studies in which subjects eat standardized meals under lab supervision, allowing causal conclusions. They also hope to enlist diverse age groups and cultural diets to confirm that the produce-sleep link holds across cuisines.

In the meantime, the message is straightforward: pack the day’s menu with colorful plants and unrefined grains.

If you normally skip vegetables at lunch, add a salad. Replace an evening snack of chips with berries. Substituting even one refined-carb serving with fruit nudged sleep metrics in the right direction during the trial.

A simple habit, immediate gains

Modern life often pits sleep against work, screens, and stress – factors that feel out of personal control. Food choices, however, remain largely in our hands.

By aligning dinner plates with daytime energy needs and nighttime recovery, people can harness a basic element of lifestyle to reinforce circadian rhythms.

The experts emphasize that produce will not cure severe insomnia on its own, but it offers an accessible lever that begins to move the needle within a single sunrise-to-sunset cycle.

For anyone struggling to stay asleep, the produce aisle may be as valuable as the pharmacy shelf. A serving of spinach at lunch or a banana before bed could help stitch the night together, turning fragmented dozing into a more continuous, restorative sleep – one colorful cup at a time.

The study is published in the journal Sleep Health.

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