Duan D, Gu C, Polotsky VY, Jun JC, Pham LV. Effects of Dinner Timing on Sleep Stage Distribution and EEG Power Spectrum in Healthy Volunteers.
Nat Sci Sleep 2021;
13:601-612. [PMID:
34017207 PMCID:
PMC8131073 DOI:
10.2147/nss.s301113]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE
Eating time and sleep habits are important modifiable behaviors that affect metabolic health, but the relationship between food intake and sleep remains incompletely understood. Observational data suggest that late food intake is associated with impaired sleep quality. We examined the effect of routine dinner (RD, 5 hours before bedtime) vs late dinner (LD, 1 hour before bedtime) on sleep architecture in healthy volunteers.
PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS
This was a post hoc analysis of a randomized crossover study of RD vs LD with a fixed sleep opportunity in a laboratory setting. On each of the two visits, 20 healthy adult volunteers (10 women) received an isocaloric meal followed by overnight polysomnography. Sleep architecture over the course of the night was assessed using visual sleep staging and EEG spectral power analysis and was compared between RD and LD. We modeled the proportions of spectral power in alpha, beta, delta, and theta bands as functions of dinner timing, time of night, and their interaction with mixed-effect spline regression.
RESULTS
Conventional sleep stages were similar between the 2 visits. LD caused a 2.5% initial increase in delta power and a reciprocal 2.7% decrease in combined alpha and beta power (p<0.0001). These effects diminished as sleep continued with a reversal of these patterns in the latter part of the night.
CONCLUSION
Contrary to the existing literature, shifting dinner timing from 5 hours before sleep to 1 hour before sleep in healthy volunteers did not result in significant adverse changes in overnight sleep architecture. In fact, LD was associated with deeper sleep in the beginning of the night and lighter sleep in the latter part of the night in healthy volunteers. This novel manifestation of postprandial hypersomnia may have therapeutic potential in patients with sleep disorders.
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