"You are what you eat," the saying goes, but is what you eat playing a role in how much you sleep? Sleep, like nutrition and physical activity, is a critical determinant of health and well-being. With the increasing prevalence of obesity and its consequences, sleep researchers have begun to explore the factors that predispose individuals to weight gain and ultimately obesity. Now, a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania shows for the first time that certain nutrients may play an underlying role in short and long sleep duration and that people who report eating a large variety of foods - an indicator of an overall healthy diet - had the healthiest sleep patterns.

The new research is published online, ahead-of-print in the journal Appetite.

"Although many of us inherently recognize that there is a relationship between what we eat and how we sleep, there have been very few scientific studies that have explored this connection, especially in a real-world situation," said Michael A. Grandner, PhD, instructor in Psychiatry and member of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at Penn. " In general, we know that those who report between 7-8 hours of sleep each night are most likely to experience better overall health and well being, so we simply asked the question "Are there differences in the diet of those who report shorter sleep, longer sleep, or standard sleep patterns?"

To answer this question, the research team analyzed data from the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NHANES includes demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, and health-related questions. The sample for the survey is selected to represent the U.S. population of all ages and demographics. For the current study, researchers used the survey question regarding how much sleep each participant reported getting each night to separate the sample into groups of different sleep patterns. Sleep patterns were broken out as "Very Short'' (<5 h per night), ''Short'' (5-6 h per night), ''Standard' (7-8h per night), and ''Long'' (9 h or more per night). NHANES participants also sat down with specially trained staff who went over, in great detail, a full day's dietary intake. This included everything from the occasional glass of water to complete, detailed records of every part of each meal. With this data, the Penn research team analyzed whether each group differed from the 7-8 hour "standard" group on any nutrients and total caloric intake. They also looked at these associations after controlling for overall diet, demographics, socioeconomics, physical activity, obesity, and other factors that could have explained this relationship.

The authors found that total caloric intake varied across groups. Short sleepers consumed the most calories, followed by normal sleepers, followed by very short sleepers, followed by long sleepers. Food variety was highest in normal sleepers, and lowest in very short sleepers. Differences across groups were found for many types of nutrients, including proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.

In a statistical analysis, the research team found that there were a number of dietary differences, but these were largely driven by a few key nutrients. They found that very short sleep was associated with less intake of tap water, lycopene (found in red- and orange-colored foods), and total carbohydrates, short sleep was associated with less vitamin C, tap water, selenium (found in nuts, meat and shellfish), and more lutein/zeaxanthin (found in green, leafy vegetables), and long sleep was associated with less intake of theobromine (found in chocolate and tea), dodecanoic acid (a saturated fat) choline (found in eggs and fatty meats), total carbohydrates, and more alcohol.

"Overall, people who sleep 7-8 hours each night differ in terms of their diet, compared to people who sleep less or more. We also found that short and long sleep are associated with lower food variety," said Dr. Grandner. "What we still don't know is if people altered their diets, would they be able to change their overall sleep pattern? This will be an important area to explore going forward as we know that short sleep duration is associated with weight gain and obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Likewise, we know that people who sleep too long also experience negative health consequences. If we can pinpoint the ideal mix of nutrients and calories to promote healthy sleep, the healthcare community has the potential to make a major dent in obesity and other cardiometabolic risk factors."

Roger,

I would focus your energy on interval sprints 2-3 times per week in addition to weight training sessions geared specifically for fat loss.  Based on your estimated body fat test of 15%, steady state cardio is a waste of time and can be counterproductive in many cases by increasing stress hormones responsible for belly fat storage. You can train all day and night, but if stress hormones are elevated you will not lose body fat!

Are You Going Through the Motions or Pushing your Limits?

Many people train just to go through the motions in the gym and this lack of effort will dictate slow progress!  The purpose of the weight training and interval sprint sessions is to drive up the powerful fat burning hormone- growth hormone!  Lactic acid is a precursor to growth hormone and spikes due to tough training sessions which include a combination of short rest periods and high training quality by way of weight load, rep speed and proper form.

Method to the Madness Drives Fast Fat LOSS

Chasing fatigue is not the answer to your fat loss goals.  There must be method to the madness which is why I suggest a customized plan.   The right training routine design will enable you to fight the fatigue curve and produce a higher quality work level with every set.  Manipulating the nervous system plays a key role here through the use of antagonistic super sets. 

Continue Reading...

 

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I just wanted to say "thanks" for the great food you sent us. The beef and chicken and rabbit are all great! The chicken sausages with apples were outstanding too! I have to admit that I lie blatantly to my kids about what they are eating until they agree that they like it. After that I tell them what it is. Maybe.

I have recommended your products to a "naturopathic" doctor friend of mine so she and her family can try your products and recommend them to her patients.

Drugs scare me down to my boots, both prescription drugs and those in our foods, so if we can grow some our own veggies and poultry, which we do, and buy some other meats from you, we are better off and so is the planet. My kids are even learning about drugs in school, and are on my case about drinking coffee. You can't have everything, I guess. Well, thanks again my friends. Be well and keep smiling!

B.S.
Sparrow Bush, NY

• 2 tablespoons ghee or clarified butter 
• 1 small onion, diced 
• 1/4 cup yellow bell pepper, diced 
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced 
• 1/4 cup orange bell pepper, diced 
• 2 pounds lean ground beef 
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 
• 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained 
• 2 cups shredded zucchini 
• 1/2 cup Maple Barbecue Sauce 
• 1 tablespoon gluten-free tamari or soy sauce 
• 1 teaspoon kosher sea salt 
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper