Study links sleep problems with malnutrition

Many Americans sleep less than the recommended amount of sleep and many do not consume the recommended amounts of important vitamins and minerals. A new study suggests that both factors can be linked.

The research is based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES), a nationally representative sample of US adults. Compared to people sleeping more than seven hours a night – the amount recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – adults, scientists found that people sleeping less than seven hours a night on average consumed less vitamins A, D and B1, as well as magnesium, niacin, calcium, zinc and phosphorus.

The study also revealed that a greater number of nutrients were badociated with poor sleep in women than in men. This number has been reduced if women were taking dietary supplements, suggesting that supplements can help fill the gaps when a person's diet does not provide the necessary nutrients.

"This work adds to the growing evidence linking specific nutrient intakes to effects on sleep," said Chioma Ikonte, lead author of the study, director of nutritional sciences at Pharmavite, LLC. "Our results suggest that people with a short duration of sleep could benefit from an improvement in their intake of these nutrients through a diet and supplementation."

Ikonte will present his research at Nutrition 2019, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, which was held from June 8 to 11, 2019 in Baltimore. In addition to results on sleep duration, research suggests that nutrients may also play a role in sleep disorders, poor sleep quality and difficulty falling asleep.

Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals that our bodies need but do not produce. As a result, they must come from our diet. Globally, billions of people suffer from at least one micronutrient deficiency.

Previous studies have shown that micronutrients play an important role in growth and development, disease prevention and healing, as well as in normal bodily functions, including sleep. Magnesium, for example, helps the body produce melatonin and other compounds involved in sleep. Some studies suggest that zinc plays a role in the regulation of sleep.

However, the researchers warned that the study was a retrospective badysis, not a randomized controlled trial, so it could not prove the cause and effect.

"It remains to be determined whether chronic lack of nutrients causes chronic nutritional failure or nutritional inadequacy," Ikonte said. "A clinical study that studies [impacts of] supplementation with these nutrients on sleep outcomes is necessary to demonstrate the cause and effect. "

Pharmavite, LLC is a company that sells dietary supplements.