Dave’s Diary: You Are What You Sleep, er Eat
Which comes first? The Chicken or the egg…or the nest? Food affects sleep…and surprise, sleep affects food! Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania studied data from the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examinations Survey.
Their goal was to cross reference the amount and kinds of foods people eat with how much they slept. They found that people who slept five to six hours per night consumed the most calories, and people who slept nine or more hours per night consumed the least number of calories. How about those in the middle? Those who slept seven to eight hours per night showed the highest food variety in their diet, and researchers say a varied diet tends to be a marker for good health. The study was published in the journal Appetite.