High-Protein Diet Linked to Weight Loss & Quality Sleep
People who always lack sleep often have troubles managing their weight. This relationship has long been linked by past research, suggesting that lack of sleep leads to weight gain. Now, a new study provides interesting findings. According to it, if you are trying to lose weight, you should eat a diet rich in protein because it improves the quality of your sleep.
The research, held at Purdue University, showed higher rates of improvement in sleep for individuals on a high protein diet compared with those consuming lower amounts of protein.
It composed of two studies. The first included 34 overweight or obese adults who consumed diets in which protein came from either beef and pork or soy and legumes. For each group, the dieters were further split into three subsets, eating diets that were 10 per cent, 20 per cent, or 30 percent protein.
The researchers measured the participants’ quality of sleep based on their self-assessment. The assessment involved other factors, such as the use of sleep aids, the number of times they wake up at night, and how long it takes them to fall asleep.
Researchers measured participants’ sleep quality based on their self-reported global sleep scores, which, in addition to measuring how long you sleep, also incorporate other sleep quality factors like whether or not you use sleep aids, how often you wake during the night, how deep you sleep, and how long it takes you to fall asleep.
The results showed that sleep was improved for those whose diets consisted of 20 percent protein compared to the 10 percent-protein dieters. But sleep did not further improve for those whose diets consisted of 30 percent protein.
The second study compared sleep quality in high-protein versus normal-protein dieters. It involved 44 overweight or obese adults were randomized to follow either the high- or normal-protein diet for four months. The foods in the diet were consistent in both groups, except that high-protein diet included added milk protein powder, while the normal-protein dieters got carbohydrate powder.
Protein intake for each dieter was assigned based on their body weight, and high-protein dieters were assigned about twice as much protein as the normal-protein dieters.
The number of high-protein dieters reporting a poor sleep score decreased throughout the study period, with only half as many dieters reporting a poor sleep score at the end of four months as at the start of the study.
How does protein promotes better sleep? Previous research has shown that brain neurotransmitters or other biomarkers associated with the sleep-wake cycle may be influenced by what we eat. But apart from this, the new study suggests that higher protein intake may change the body’s insulin and circulating amino acids, both of which affect levels of serotonin and melatonin, which in turn affect sleep.
Source of this article:
Experts Say This Diet Could Help You Lose Weight And Get More Sleep
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