What should you eat for a better night’s sleep?
BBC Learning English programme 6 Minute English explores the latest sleep research, asking what we eat might have to do with how well we sleep. Studies consistently link healthier diets to better sleep quality, yet experts warn that no single food or supplement holds the answer. A YouGov survey found that 35% of UK adults sleep six hours or fewer per night — well short of the recommended seven to nine.
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What this episode answers
Can diet affect sleep quality?
Yes — scientists have found that people who eat more healthily tend to sleep better, a pattern confirmed by both large long-term observational studies and smaller laboratory studies in which diet was carefully controlled.
Which nutrients are said to improve sleep, and which are thought to harm it?
Higher fibre intake — from vegetables, fruit and wholegrains — is linked to more deep sleep; conversely, a diet high in saturated fat, found in meat and dairy, tends to reduce deep sleep.
Can specific foods or supplements — such as kiwi fruit or drinks — improve sleep?
Some studies have examined specific foods such as kiwi fruit and tart cherry juice, but the evidence is limited; experts say no magic pill or powder can reliably improve sleep, and recommend improving overall dietary patterns instead.
What proportion of UK adults said they sleep less than the recommended amount?
According to a YouGov survey, 35% of UK adults sleep six hours or fewer per night, falling short of the recommended seven to nine hours.
What is the relationship between deep sleep and dietary patterns?
A Mediterranean-style diet — high in vegetables and wholegrains, low in meat and dairy — is associated with better deep sleep; Professor Marie-Pierre St-Onge's laboratory research showed that participants who ate more fibre and less saturated fat achieved longer periods of deep sleep.
Sleep and Diet: What the Research Shows
Many people struggle to get enough sleep — whether from drinking coffee too late in the day or simply lying awake with too much on their minds. Adults are advised to sleep seven to nine hours a night, yet a YouGov survey found that 35% of UK adults report sleeping six hours or fewer.
Over recent years scientists have turned their attention to the link between what we eat and how we sleep. Large, long-term observational studies have repeatedly found that people with healthier diets tend to enjoy better sleep quality. Smaller laboratory studies, in which researchers carefully controlled participants' food intake and measured their sleep, have pointed in the same direction.
It's Nutrients, Not Individual Foods, That Matter
BBC World Service programme *The Food Chain* spoke to Professor Marie-Pierre St-Onge of Columbia University, a leading researcher in this field. She argues that what matters for sleep is not any single ingredient but the overall pattern of nutrients in a person's diet.
The Mediterranean diet draws particular attention. Rich in vegetables, fruit and wholegrains and low in animal products such as meat and dairy as well as sugar, this way of eating is strongly associated with better sleep quality. Professor St-Onge's own laboratory research found that people with higher **fibre** intakes — fibre being abundant in vegetables, fruit and wholegrains — spent longer in deep sleep: the stage of sleep during which the body is able to rest most completely.
On the other side of the equation, diets high in **saturated fat** — the kind of fat found in meat and dairy products and associated with negative health effects — appear to work against deep sleep.
Kiwi Fruit and Cherry Juice: Limited Evidence
Some researchers have focused on specific foods, including kiwi fruit and tart cherry juice, investigating whether they might improve sleep. Advertisements for supplements that concentrate particular nutrients are also widely circulated. Experts, however, urge caution about placing too much hope in any single food or product.
There Is No Magic Bullet
Sleep medicine specialist Dr. Alie Hoar was unequivocal when she spoke to *The Food Chain*: "People are constantly being fed information on social media about a magic powder or a magic pill that will help them sleep tonight. But as Marie-Pierre and I know, there is unfortunately no magic bullet."
A "magic bullet" refers to a convenient solution that resolves a complex problem in one go — something that, in reality, rarely exists. The consistent advice from experts is not to chase individual foods or supplements but to improve the overall pattern of the diet: more vegetables, fruit and wholegrains; less meat, dairy and sugar. It is a gradual and unglamorous approach, but it is the one the evidence supports.
Vocabulary from the Programme
The episode introduced six key terms. **Nutrients** are the substances the body needs to survive and stay healthy. **Saturated fat** is a type of fat found in meat and dairy that is associated with negative health effects. **Deep sleep** is the stage of sleep during which the body achieves complete rest. **Supplements** are pills or capsules taken to top up nutrients that may be lacking in everyday food. **To be fed information** means to receive a large and continuous supply of information. And a **magic bullet** describes a quick, dramatic fix — one that almost never actually exists.
Takeaways
- A healthy diet centred on the Mediterranean pattern — high in vegetables and wholegrains, low in meat and dairy — is linked to better deep sleep, while a diet high in saturated fat tends to reduce it.
- 35% of UK adults report sleeping six hours or fewer per night, falling short of the seven-to-nine-hour target recommended by experts.
- No magic supplement or single food has been scientifically shown to reliably improve sleep; experts agree that improving overall dietary patterns is the most effective approach.
This article is edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. It is not an official summary — please listen to the episode itself.