How sleep problems and nutrition are related
With a growing stomach and a baby who kicks inside, few women get a good night’s sleep in the last trimester of pregnancy. Lack of sleep is not only unpleasant in itself, it also can lead to overeating. As a result, you run the risk of gaining more weight than you planned.
Why does lack of sleep lead to overeating?
Due to lack of sleep, the level of leptin, a satiety hormone, is reduced; therefore, those who sleep less eat more. Additionally, when you do not get enough sleep, you feel tired and cannot perform the same amount of physical activity as usual. As a result, calorie consumption decreases, which also leads to the accumulation of extra pounds [1].
Unfortunately, being overweight, in turn, can further diminish your quality of sleep [2]. Because you’re not sleeping well, you gain weight, and because you gain weight, your quality of sleep can worsen. Such a vicious circle quite often leads to the development of gestational diabetes [3, 4].
Scientists have studied various dietary factors affecting the quality and duration of sleep in pregnant women [1]. It is clear so far that neither the intervals between meals, nor even the nightly raids of the refrigerator play a significant role. But the choice of products does matter.
Sugary soda lovers sleep worse than anyone else. Some adherents of the Mediterranean pyramid experience insomnia and lack of sleep due to the high amount of cereals, pasta and whole grain bread, though the diet also includes at least four servings per day of fruits and vegetables, more fish than meat, and sources of healthy fats like nuts [1].
These recommendations apply mostly to expectant mothers from Europe and America. In eastern regions (such as India, China, Japan and Malaysia), the quality of sleep decreases and weight increases if rice in the diet is at least partially replaced with noodles or bread.
Both sleep and weight stabilize if you reduce the consumption of fish and seafood and increase the proportion of vegetables in your diet [1, 4].
As you can see, cereals and vegetables help everyone get more sleep, regardless of racial or genetic characteristics. And, accordingly, better sleep reduces the likelihood of developing gestational diabetes.
