Timing and composition of last meal before bedtime affect sleep parameters of night workers

In this 2021 study, nursing professionals working permanent night shifts were examined on their eating timing and dietary composition. Inappropriate eating habits may negatively influence sleep quality among night workers. This study set out to determine the time interval between the workers’ last meal and bedtime. The aim was to find out how this time interval correlates with sleep parameters. The analyses were carried out for a regular sleep routine on a day off and on a weekday. This clinical trial recruited a total of 30 female nursing professionals who permanently worked 12-hour night shifts, followed by 36 hours of rest. Shorter time intervals between the last meal and sleep onset were correlated with longer sleeps during the day. With regards to diet, every gram of fat consumed was associated with a delay in nighttime sleep onset by 7.8 minutes. Nogueira et al. also discovered that each gram of carbohydrate ingested by the women equated to a 1.2-minute delay in sleep onset at night. These results suggest that both eating timing and nutritional composition of the last meal before bedtime can potentially influence quality of sleep among night-shift workers. [NPID: eating timing, chrononutrition, sleep quality, sleep, night shift workers, nursing, nurses, diet composition]

Year: 2021

Reference: Nogueira, L., Pellegrino, P., Cipolla-Neto, J., Moreno, C., & Marqueze, E. C. (2021). Timing and composition of last meal before bedtime affect sleep parameters of night workers. Clocks & sleep, 3(4), 536–546. https://doi.org/10.3390/clockssleep3040038

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