Many people think it’s impossible to go to bed without indulging in a late-night snack before hitting the sack.  Midnight gnoshing may make sleep come easier at first but that snack is likely to interrupt a good night’s sleep in much the same way that sleep apnea does, according to the findings of a recent Brazilian study designed to compare eating patterns with sleeping patterns in healthy adults.

The research team, led by Iona Zalcman, of the Federal University of Sao Paulo, recruited 52 healthy volunteers, aged 20 to 45, to partake in a three-day study in which their food intake would be recorded and their sleep monitored using an overnight polysomnogram.

In keeping with the body’s natural circadian rhythms, study participants who consumed their food early in the day enjoyed a better night’s sleep than the study participants who indulged in late-night snacks.  The snacks seem to interfere with the body’s metabolic and endocrine patterns, also part of the circadian cycle, thereby keeping the snackers awake at night.

The research team acknowledges the scarcity of studies comparing distribution of food intake with sleep patterns but suggests the information might prove of value when otherwise healthy individuals are experiencing the distress caused by fragmented sleep.

Zalcman presented her team’s findings at SLEEP 2008 on June 10.  SLEEP 2008 is the 22nd annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).  Full details of the study have been published in the June 12 issue of the journal, American Academy of Sleep Medicine.