A recent study by researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden has revealed that eating fast food before bedtime negatively impacts sleep quality, leading to less deep and restorative sleep.
Published in The Obesity Society journal, the study found that fast foods like burgers and pizza, which are high in saturated fats and sugars, degrade sleep quality when consumed right before bed. This discovery is new, as previous studies did not compare the effects of unhealthy diets with healthy diets on sleep quality.
The researchers selected 15 healthy young participants who typically followed sleep guidelines of 7-9 hours per night. Over the course of a week, the participants ate both a high-fat, high-sugar fast food meal and a balanced diet, maintaining the same caloric intake for both diets.
After each dietary regimen, the participants' brain activity during sleep was monitored. The results were clear: those who consumed fast food showed lower activity in their brain's slow-wave sleep patterns compared to those who ate a balanced diet. The more slow-wave activity, the deeper and more restorative the sleep.
Despite these findings, study co-author Jonathan Sedernaise admitted that it is not yet clear which specific components of fast food caused the disruption to deep sleep. He speculated that the unhealthy diet may have contained higher levels of sugar and fat, worsening the issue.
Sedernaise warns that poor diets and insufficient sleep both increase the risk of various health problems and encourages people to reconsider having a fast-food meal before bed.
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