Poor sleep among women may increase risks of obesity and heart disease, according to a new health study from Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
The study, “The skinny on why poor sleep may increase heart risk in women,” was conducted to find a link between overall diet quality and multiple aspects of sleep quality. Findings revealed that poor sleep among women could make them overeat and observe a lower-quality diet.
"Women are particularly prone to sleep disturbances across the life span, because they often shoulder the responsibilities of caring for children and family and, later, because of menopausal hormones," says Brooke Aggarwal, EdD, the study’s senior author and assistant professor of medical sciences at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the study examined the sleep and eating habits of 495 women. These participants, ahes 20 to 76, were ethnically diverse.
Researchers took into consideration the sleep quality, the time it took to fall asleep, and insomnia. The types and amounts of food they regularly eat are also recorded for the identification of dietary patterns.
According to the study, female participants who took longer to fall asleep recorded higher caloric intake and ate more food by weight. Meanwhile, women struggling with more severe insomnia symptoms ate more food by weight and lesser unsaturated fats than women with milder insomnia.
"Our interpretation is that women with poor-quality sleep could be overeating during subsequent meals and making more unhealthy food choices," says Aggarwal.
"Poor sleep quality may lead to excessive food and calorie intake by stimulating hunger signals or suppressing signals of fullness," says Faris Zuraikat, PhD, postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and lead author of the study. "Fullness is largely affected by the weight or volume of food consumed, and it could be that women with insomnia consume a greater amount of food in an effort to feel full.
"However, it's also possible that poor diet has a negative impact on women's sleep quality," adds Zuraikat. "Eating more could also cause gastrointestinal discomfort, for instance, making it harder to fall asleep or remain asleep."
"Given that poor diet and overeating may lead to obesity -- a well-established risk factor for heart disease -- future studies should test whether therapies that improve sleep quality can promote cardiometabolic health in women," says Aggarwal.
