Dietary patterns and sleep parameters in a cohort of community dwelling Australian men

Emerging evidence suggests potential effects of nutrients/foods on sleep parameters. However, no studies have addressed the complex interactions among nutrients/foods and relate them to sleep outcomes. To investigate the associations between dietary patterns and sleep parameters (polysomnography (PSG) measured and self-reported sleep symptoms) in a large sample of community dwelling men in South Australia.

Cross-sectional analysis was conducted of participants in the Men Androgen Inflammation Lifestyle Environment and Stress cohort enrolled in a sleep sub-study (n=784, age 35-80 years). Dietary intake was measured by a validated food frequency questionnaire. Dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis. Sleep was assessed by an overnight home PSG and self-reported questionnaires.

Two factors were obtained by factor analysis: Factor 1 was characterised by high intakes of vegetables, fruits, and legumes and factor 2 was characterised by processed meat, snacks, red meat and take-away foods. Three categories of the dietary patterns were defined (prudent, mixed and western) through classification of the sample according to the actual consumption higher or lower of each factor. The prudent (factor 1 dominant) and mixed dietary patterns were inversely associated with sleep onset, compared with the western dietary pattern (factor 2 dominant) (β=-6.34 (95% CI-1.11, -11.57), β=-4.34 (95% CI-8.34, -0.34) respectively)). The association was only significant with the prudent dietary pattern after multiple comparison adjustment. No associations were found with between dietary patterns and other sleep outcomes.

The prudent dietary pattern was associated with a faster sleep onset, which may provide a solution for sleep management.