Frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables helps to improve sleep

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A new study from the University of Michigan shows that increasing fruit and vegetable consumption may help young people sleep better, especially young women.

Young people who reported consuming less than five servings of fruit and vegetables per day reported a high prevalence of chronic insomnia symptoms, with more than one-third reporting difficulty falling or staying asleep at least three times a week for three months or longer .

According to the study, women who were able to increase their fruit and vegetable intake by three or more servings over a three-month period were more than twice as likely to experience improvement in these insomnia symptoms.

“We were very excited to see that a fairly simple dietary intervention, such as encouraging increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, could have such an effect on sleep,” said Erika Jansen, lead author of the study and associate professor of dietetics. At the UM School of Public Health. “We know from other literature that improving sleep improves overall quality of life and many other health outcomes, so the benefits likely extend beyond sleep changes.”

Jansen and senior author Gwen Alexander, a researcher of the Department of Public Health Sciences at Henry Ford Health System, and colleagues analyzed data from more than 1,400 participants collected by Henry Ford of Detroit and the more rural Geisinger Health System, headquartered in Danville, Pennsylvania.< /p>

Trial result

Young people who increased their fruit and vegetable intake by at least three servings experienced modest improvements in sleep latency (time to fall asleep) and insomnia over a three-month period compared to participants with no changes or a smaller increase in fruit and vegetable consumption.