10 Jun Is your diet making you tired?
A new study suggests that men who eat a lot of fatty foods may find themselves needing an afternoon nap.
Is your diet the reason why you are so tired?
In a study of almost 800 men (aged 35 to 80), those who consumed high fat diets reported an increase in daytime somnolence. Additional factors were studied for correlation such as body weight, exercise levels or chronic health issues, such as diabetes or depression, however no link was found between these diets and other factors meaning the high fat diet alone was enough to increase tiredness.
A study published in the journal Nutrients, shows that dietary fat, itself is nor is it clear why a fatty diet might affect drowsiness. But estimated that certain “gut neuro-hormones” promote sleepiness, so it’s plausible that a high-fat diet could somehow affect daytime drowsiness.
Overall, the research team found, the one-quarter of men with the highest daily fat intake were more likely to complain of daytime drowsiness than the one-quarter who ate the least fat.
The investigators found that 46 percent of the men in the group with the highest level of fat intake were habitually sleepy during the day, compared to 37 percent of the men in the lowest-intake group.
Men who ate the most fat also had a higher risk of sleep apnoea through correlation with the increased body weight.
Even though the study authors tried to account for other factors that might cause drowsiness, it’s difficult to pin the blame on one nutrient, according to Jim White, a registered dietitian and spokesman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Story from news.health.com