Study finds fatty foods leads to daytime sleepiness, poor sleep

A recent study has revealed that men, who consume diets high in fat, are more likely to feel sleepy during the day, report sleep problems at night and are more likely to suffer from sleep apnea.

This is the result of the Men Androgen Inflammation Lifestyle Environment and Stress (MAILES) study looking at the association between fatty diets and sleep, conducted by the University of Adelaide's Population Research and Outcome Studies unit in the School of Medicine and the Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men's Health.

The results is based on data of more than 1800 Australian men aged 35-80, including their dietary habits over a 12-month period. Author Yingting Cao said that after adjusting for other demographic and lifestyle factors and chronic diseases, they found that those who consumed the highest fat intake were more likely to experience excessive daytime sleepiness.

Cao added that this has significant implications for alertness and concentration, which would be of particular concern to workers. The researcher added that poor sleep and feeling sleepy during the day means you have less energy. This in turn is known to increase people's cravings for high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods, which is then associated with poor sleep outcomes. So the poor diet-and-sleep pattern can become a vicious cycle.

The study appears in the journal Nutrients.