Abstract
Dietary proteins are sources of some amino acid precursors of two neurotransmitters relevant for biological rhythms, serotonin and melatonin, which are involved in sleep and alertness. Meat is the main source of proteins in many countries. Furthermore, meat consumption is of special interest because it provides high-quality protein as well as saturated and trans fatty acids. However, its effect on sleep patterns is unclear. Thereby, the aim was to examine the association of habitual meat consumption with changes in sleep duration and with sleep quality in older adults. We used data from 1,341 participants in the Seniors-ENRICA cohort aged ≥60 years, followed from 2012 through 2015. Habitual meat consumption was assessed at baseline with a validated diet history. Sleep duration and quality were ascertained both in 2012 and 2015. Analyses were performed with logistic regression and adjusted for socio-demographic variables, lifestyle, morbidity, sleep duration and poor sleep indicators at baseline. During follow-up, 9.0% of individuals increased and 7.9% decreased their sleep duration by ≥2 hours/night. Compared with individuals in the lowest tertile of meat consumption (<87 g/d), those in the highest tertile (≥128 g/d) showed increased incidence of a large decrease (≥2 h) in sleep duration (OR: 1.93; 95% CI:1.01-3.72; p-trend:0.04). Higher consumption of meat was also associated with incidence of snoring (OR:2.06; 95% CI:1.17-3.60; p-trend:0.01) and poor general sleep quality (OR:1.71; 95% CI:1.04-2.82; p-trend:0.03). Each 100 g/d increment in meat intake was associated with a 60% higher risk of both large sleep duration changes and poor sleep quality (OR:1.60; 95% CI:1.07-2.40). Results were in the same direction for red and processed meat and for white meat separately, and among individuals with physical impairment. Higher meat consumption (≥128 g/d) was associated with changes in sleep duration and with poor sleep in older adults.
Highlights
Sleep disorders have been associated with higher risk of adverse health outcomes in older people
Several studies have found that altered sleep duration or quality are related to cardiometabolic diseases [1,2,3], cognitive decline [4,5] and the frailty syndrome [6,7], which suggests that sleep disorders can exacerbate the effects of the aging process [8]
Since the relationship between sleep quantity and quality and adverse health outcomes in older people has been extensively shown [1,2,3,4,5,6,7], our results are of relevance because they suggest that reducing meat intake may improve sleep patterns
Summary
Sleep disorders have been associated with higher risk of adverse health outcomes in older people. A limited number of short-term randomized trials among young or middle-aged adults have explored whether high-protein diets (forced intakes ranging 1,5 to 2,4 g/kg/d, that is, between double and triple of the recommended dietary allowance) are related to sleep changes, and their results are inconclusive [15,16,17]. These studies did not allow for understanding the effect of habitual protein intake on sleep patterns over the long term. The aim of this study was to examine the prospective association of habitual meat consumption with changes in sleep duration and with sleep quality in community-dwelling older adults
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