Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have been such as heart disease and , and a new study suggests they might also be contributing to chronic insomnia in some people. These UPFs can be any foodstuffs that are heavily modified to improve their taste, or produce them on a mass scale, or help them to last longer. They contrast with foods like fruit or vegetables, that come mostly as they are.
Researchers led by a team from Sorbonne Paris Nord University in France looked at data collected on 38,570 adults as part of the research project, mapping diet information against sleep variables. "At a time when more and more foods are highly processed and sleep disturbances are rampant, it is important to evaluate whether diet could contribute to adverse or good quality sleep," Marie-Pierre St-Onge, a nutrition and sleep scientist at Columbia University in the US. St-Onge and her colleagues found a association between higher UPF consumption and increased chronic insomnia risk, after allowances were made for sociodemographic, lifestyle, diet quality, and mental health factors.
Overall, the study participants got 16 percent of their daily energy from UPFs, while 19.4 percent of the cohort reported symptoms of – and this group tended to have more UPFs in their dietary intake. The data also showed a slightly stronger association in men.
The study only assessed single points in time, and relied on self reporting, but the large number of people involved suggests this is a link that's worthy of futur.