Got Sleep? How to Sleep Better at Night
This week in the Guardrail, simple adjustments to your grocery list can lead to immediate improvements in nighttime rest. New research highlights that prioritizing nutrient-dense whole foods can be an accessible strategy for boosting an individual's health. And maybe the vitality of your whole organization.
By Michael Bronfman
March 2, 2026
How to Sleep Better at Night
From counting sheep to white noise machines and weighted blankets, people have tried almost everything to get a good night's sleep. For many adults, restful sleep feels frustratingly out of reach. Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep is common, and it is not just an annoyance. Poor sleep can affect heart health, blood sugar control, memory, learning, mood, productivity, and relationships. Over time, chronic sleep problems raise the risk of serious health conditions and increase health care costs.
New research suggests that one of the simplest tools for better sleep may already be part of your daily routine, or at least it could be. According to a study led by researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine and Columbia University, eating more fruits and vegetables during the day is linked to better sleep that very same night. This finding points to diet as a practical and affordable way to support healthier sleep.
Diet is something people choose every day. Unlike medications or devices, food is accessible, familiar, and often easier to change in small steps. This study provides strong evidence that what we eat during the day may directly affect how well we sleep at night.
Why sleep quality matters
Sleep is not just about how many hours you spend in bed. Quality matters just as much as quantity. Deep and continuous sleep allows the brain and body to recover. During sleep, the body repairs tissues, regulates hormones, supports immune function, and consolidates memory. When sleep is broken or shallow, these processes are interrupted.
Over time, poor sleep quality has been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, type two diabetes, depression, and anxiety. It can also make it harder to focus, learn new information, and manage emotions. From a public health standpoint, sleep problems contribute to workplace accidents, lower productivity, and higher medical spending.
Because sleep affects so many systems in the body, researchers are eager to understand all the factors that influence it. While stress, screen use, and sleep schedules are well-known contributors, diet has been harder to pin down.
What we already knew about diet and sleep
Past studies have shown that sleep and diet influence each other. People who do not get enough sleep tend to eat more high-calorie, high-fat, high-sugar foods. Lack of sleep can disrupt the release of hunger hormones, making people feel hungrier and crave less nutritious foods.
However, the reverse relationship has been less clear. Scientists have suspected that diet affects sleep, but many earlier studies relied on self-reported sleep quality. Participants were often asked how well they thought they slept, a subjective measure. These studies also struggled to determine whether diet changes preceded sleep changes or vice versa.
The new study from the University of Chicago and Columbia University addressed these gaps by examining timing and using objective sleep measurements.
Inside the new study
The study focused on healthy young adults. Participants were asked to record everything they ate each day using a smartphone app. This allowed researchers to track fruit and vegetable intake, as well as other aspects of the diet, in real time.
At the same time, participants wore a wrist monitor that measured their sleep patterns. This device provided objective data on sleep duration and sleep fragmentation. Sleep fragmentation refers to how often a person wakes up or shifts between deep and light sleep during the night. Higher fragmentation means more disrupted sleep.
By matching daytime diet data with sleep data from the following night, researchers found that food choices during the day were associated with sleep quality just hours later. This approach helped establish a temporal connection between diet and sleep.
Clear and meaningful results
The findings were striking. On days when participants ate more fruits and vegetables, they tended to sleep more soundly that night. Their sleep was deeper and less interrupted. Similar benefits were seen in participants who ate more healthy carbohydrates such as whole grains.
Using statistical modeling, the researchers estimated that people who meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation of five cups of fruits and vegetables per day could experience a sixteen percent improvement in sleep quality compared to people who eat no fruits or vegetables.
According to Esra Tasali, MD, director of the UChicago Sleep Center and co-senior author of the study, this level of improvement is meaningful. She noted that it is remarkable to see such a significant change in sleep quality in less than twenty-four hours.
This suggests that even short-term dietary changes may have immediate benefits for sleep.
Why fruits and vegetables may help with sleep
The study did not focus on exact biological mechanisms, but existing science offers some clues. Fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Fiber plays a key role in digestion and blood sugar regulation. Stable blood sugar levels may support more consistent sleep patterns.
Many fruits and vegetables also contain micronutrients involved in sleep regulation. These include magnesium, potassium, and vitamin C. Some plant foods are sources of compounds that support the production of serotonin and melatonin, hormones that help regulate sleep and circadian rhythms.
Healthy carbohydrates, such as whole grains, may also help by increasing tryptophan availability, an amino acid involved in serotonin production. Together, these nutrients may create conditions in the body that favor deeper and more continuous sleep.
A natural and cost-effective approach
One of the most appealing aspects of this research is its simplicity. Dietary changes do not require prescriptions or specialized equipment. Fruits and vegetables are widely available and can be incorporated into many types of meals.
Tasali emphasized that dietary modification could be a natural and cost-effective way to improve sleep. From a public health perspective, this matters. Sleep medications can be helpful for some people, but they may come with side effects and are not always intended for long-term use. Lifestyle-based strategies can complement medical care and support overall health.
Marie Pierre St Onge, PhD, director of the Center of Excellence for Sleep and Circadian Research at Columbia University and co-senior author of the study, highlighted the empowering nature of these findings. She noted that small changes can impact sleep and that better rest may be within reach through everyday choices.
What this means for health care and pharma
For the pharmaceutical and health care industries, this research adds to a growing body of evidence that lifestyle factors play a crucial role in managing chronic conditions. Sleep is closely tied to metabolic and cardiovascular health, areas where many pharmaceutical therapies are used.
Improving sleep through diet may enhance the effectiveness of existing treatments and, in some cases, reduce reliance on medications. It may also open the door to new approaches that combine nutritional guidance with medical care.
From a research standpoint, these findings highlight the importance of studying non-drug interventions alongside traditional therapies. Understanding how diet interacts with sleep and metabolism can inform prevention strategies and support more holistic patient care.
Next steps for research
While the results are promising, the authors are clear that more research is needed. The study focused on healthy young adults, so future studies will need to examine whether the findings apply to older adults, children, and people with chronic health conditions.
Researchers also want to better understand the biological pathways that link fruit and vegetable intake to sleep quality. This includes studying digestion, brain signaling, and metabolic processes in more detail.
Longer studies could help determine whether sustained dietary changes lead to lasting improvements in sleep and whether better sleep, in turn, leads to improvements in other health outcomes over time.
Practical takeaways for everyday life
For people looking to improve their sleep, this study offers an encouraging message. Adding more fruits and vegetables to daily meals may help support better sleep the same night.
This does not require a complete diet overhaul. Simple steps such as adding fruit to breakfast, including a salad or vegetables at lunch, and filling half the dinner plate with vegetables can make a difference. Choosing whole grains over refined carbohydrates may also help.
While diet is not the only factor affecting sleep, it is one that people can often control. Combined with good sleep habits such as consistent bedtimes, reduced screen use before bed, and regular physical activity, dietary changes can be part of a comprehensive approach to better sleep.
About the study
The study titled “Higher daytime intake of fruits and vegetables predicts less disrupted nighttime sleep in younger adults” was published in June 2025 in Sleep Health, The Journal of the National Sleep Foundation. The research was led by scientists from the University of Chicago and Columbia University and supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Diabetes Research and Training Center at the University of Chicago.
More information and a summary from the University of Chicago Medicine.
Reach out to Metis Consulting Services today to learn more. And to take your organization to a competitive advantage with Risk-mitigation and Quality Strategies and Systems.
