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 Soda is the main source of added sugar in the American diet,
researchers note in the journal Sleep Health. Soda and lack of sleep
are both independently associated with obesity, and sugar-sweetened
beverages are also linked to rising rates of heart disease and
diabetes, the authors write.
Researchers examined survey data on almost 19,000 adults and found
about 13 percent of participants slept five hours or less a night.
What set these poor sleepers apart is they consumed 21 percent more
sugar-sweetened drinks than adults who got a healthy seven to eight
hours a night.
Further analysis of the results by type of drink found the main
association was with caffeinated non-diet sodas.
“The most likely way in which soda consumption can negatively affect
sleep is through ingesting the caffeine typically found in soda
because caffeine blocks the binding of a particular chemical in the
brain responsible for us feeling tired,” said lead study author Aric
Prather of the University of California, San Francisco.
“With respect to sugar, it is probably more likely that a lack of
sleep increases one’s drive for consuming sugar than it is that
sugar is negatively affecting our ability to sleep,” Prather added
by email.
The study doesn't prove that sugar or caffeine directly cause poor
sleep, Prather noted.
Overall, about 23 percent of survey participants said they slept six
hours a night, while 57 percent said they slept between seven and
eight hours and 8 percent reported getting at least nine hours of
sleep.
Those who slept no more than five hours a night consumed 26 percent
more regular soda than the seven-to-eight-hour sleepers, and 33
percent more caffeinated drinks, researchers found.
Compared to heavier sleepers, people reporting no more than five
hours a night were more likely to smoke and be sedentary, and to be
black, poor, unmarried, and to lack a high school education. Poor
sleepers were also more likely to have chronic health problems or
diagnosed sleep disorders.
Adults who reported six hours of sleep a night drank 14 percent more
soda and 9 percent more caffeinated drinks than healthy sleepers,
the study also found.
There wasn’t a statistically meaningful connection between drinking
water, tea, coffee or 100 percent fruit juice and getting too little
sleep.
Limitations of the analysis include the reliance on adults to
accurately recall and report how long they slept and how much soda
and other beverages they drank, the authors note.
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“It has been relatively well-established that people who don't get
enough sleep and those whose sleep is of poor quality are more
likely to gain weight and become obese,” said Michael Grandner,
director of the sleep and health research program at the University
of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson.
“We also know that part of the reason for this is that their sleep
patterns may be leading them to a more unhealthy diet, which may be
causing the weight gain,” Grandner, who wasn’t involved in the
study, added by email. “But up until now, there really wasn't a
specific focus on soda consumption, even though we know that soda is
a leading driver of obesity.”
Cutting back on soda may not guarantee a better night’s sleep, but
it’s still a good idea, said Marie-Pierre St-Onge, a nutrition
researcher at Columbia University in New York who wasn’t involved in
the study.
“Ideally, reducing soda consumption would be the optimal goal as it
would benefit other health factors, in addition to helping with
calorie control and weight management,” St-Onge said by email.
“At this time, there are no data to quantify if reducing soda intake
could improve sleep and if it did, what aspects of sleep would be
improved and by how much,” St-Onge added. “But individuals with poor
sleep who consume sodas should definitely cut back on soda
consumption to see if it helps them to sleep better.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2fLSLt5 Sleep Health, online November 9, 2016.
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