Trouble sleeping? Remove these types of food from your diet

Ultra-processed foods are a glorious orgy of sugars, fats, salts, and other additives. Think sodas, chips, breakfast cereal—foods that have been highly processed and contain chemicals or other ingredients not commonly found in home kitchens.



They can also make people sick and are linked to heart disease, hypertension, and cancer.



Now researchers from Sorbonne Paris Nord University in France have found a link between these foods and chronic insomnia.



Sleep data based on 38,570 adults



The researchers, who published a study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics , analyzed data from 38,570 adults who had participated in the NutriNet-Santé project where they answered questionnaires about their sleep patterns, and completed a 24-hour food record every six months. (The average study participant completed nine food records.)



On average, the participants reported getting 16% of their daily energy from ultra-processed foods, while 19.4% reported having chronic insomnia. When the researchers did a follow-up analysis they found every 10% increase of ultra-processed food in someone’s diet was associated with a higher risk of insomnia .



This was particularly true for men.



“Sleep disorders and insomnia represent major public health challenges, given the health status complications they entail,” the researchers wrote. “They have been associated with anxiety and depression, but also with physical disorders. A better understanding of sleep disorders and their determinants therefore seems essential to develop well-targeted prevention strategies.”