Intermittent Fasting and Sleep Patterns: Unlock the Secret to Weight Loss and Better Sleep

Do you encounter sleep issues or struggle to get a peaceful sleep? 

Well, the solution to these problems may lie in intermittent fasting, an eating pattern that involves cycling between periods of eating and fasting. Not only does intermittent fasting alleviate sleep issues, but it also carries several benefits, such as supporting weight loss and improving metabolism.

A practice that dates back to ancient times, intermittent fasting has become progressively popular among the masses since it offers a range of benefits.

I began intermittent fasting primarily to lose weight. To my surprise, besides dropping the extra pounds, I’ve experienced unexpected benefits such as enhanced focus and less inflammation post-workout. But the most significant change has been the improvement in my sleep quality since I started IF four months ago. It’s been a total game-changer and is often the first benefit I highlight when recommending this diet.

Along with its myriad of benefits, let’s find out how intermittent fasting can help you sleep better. (1)

The Science Behind Intermittent Fasting and Improved Sleep Quality

Most people eat every few hours from dawn to dusk. This may include early breakfasts, evening snacks, and late dinner. Such an eating pattern limits your aggregate time of fasting, especially when you are asleep.

The intake of calories just before bedtime shifts your body into a fed-state metabolism, and in this state, your body depends more on glucose for energy. The problem here is that your body needs to burn fat for a night of quality sleep. Hence, your body is not prepared for sleep if you are in a glucose-reliant fed state just before bedtime.

Intermittent fasting is an age-old practice involving alternating between voluntary fasting and eating.

The best part about intermittent fasting is that the natural fat-burning process that occurs while you sleep also happens when you fast. It has become popular in recent years since it can improve your overall health, help you lose weight, and get better sleep.

How Does Intermittent Fasting Affect Sleep?

According to research, intermittent fasting strengthens your circadian rhythm and improves sleep quality. Circadian rhythm manages many biological functions, from regulating your appetite and metabolism to managing your sleep-wake cycle. Circadian rhythm predominantly depends on sunlight to control these functions. (17)

However, food is a solid circadian time cue. Hence, setting meal times while fasting can help reinforce your body’s circadian rhythm. (18)

Additionally, intermittent fasting helps increase the growth hormone production. Growth hormone is produced during sleep and helps burn fat and restore muscle mass. It also helps repair the body at a cellular level during sleep. Hence, people who do intermittent fasting feel refreshed and rejuvenated after waking up.

People who incorporate intermittent fasting into their lifestyle have more focus and energy. It is because fasting increases the production of a neurotransmitter called orexin-A, which is related to alertness. People who fast have higher levels of orexin-A during the daytime, so they feel more alert throughout the day and sleep more peacefully at night. (19)

Intermittent fasting helps improve your sleep quality. According to one study, eight healthy overweight individuals were put on a time-restricted eating (TRE) regimen for 16 weeks, and the result said that there was a significant increase in sleep satisfaction in individuals practicing intermittent fasting.

A further study found that 23 obese adults experienced improved sleep quality throughout a 12-week intervention period, even though they had to limit their eating time to eight hours daily. (20)

Intermittent Fasting and Insomnia

Although intermittent fasting helps improve sleep quality, it could also contribute to sleep issues subject to your eating schedule. Eating irregularly can interrupt your sleep quality, especially if you eat late at night, as it can increase your body temperature and disrupt your sleep.

Large meals just before bedtime may lead to stomach issues and make it tough to fall asleep. It may also disturb your sleep pattern, sleep quality, and how rejuvenated you feel after waking up.

For instance, during Ramadan fasting, where nighttime eating is a necessity, this practice can disrupt your body’s natural circadian rhythm. As a result, your body might produce insufficient melatonin, the hormone responsible for sleep, leading to reduced time spent in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. (21)

Tips For Better Sleep While Fasting

Adhering to a steady eating pattern may improve your sleep quality. Following are a few healthy tips to incorporate into your daily lifestyle to ensure better sleep while fasting.

Don’t Go to Bed Starving

Going to bed on an empty stomach can hinder your ability to enjoy a restful sleep. When you are hungry, the levels of stress hormone known as cortisol are elevated, which can compromise your sleep quality. So, try having your last meal at least three hours before bedtime.

Eating food well before bedtime helps digestion and lets you sleep restfully.

Stay Hydrated

Ensuring you’re well-hydrated before bed can lead to deeper and more prolonged sleep. Drinking less water throughout the day may increase your hunger cravings, making sleeping comfortably at night difficult. (22, 23)

Further, you need to be careful about your caffeine and alcohol consumption as well. Although caffeine can reduce hunger, it interrupts your sleep, too. On the other hand, alcohol can disrupt your sleep and may negatively impact your metabolism by causing nutritional deficiency. (24)

Eat Right at the Right Times

Though intermittent fasting focuses on when to eat, what you eat is equally crucial for your health and sleep quality. Consume a healthy diet comprising whole foods. Avoid packaged and junk foods as much as possible.

Timing is also crucial as your insulin sensitivity level is higher earlier in the day. Hence, you will be more receptive to food containing carbohydrates during that time. It is better to avoid processed carbohydrates like chips, crackers, sweets, etc., especially close to bedtime.

This does not mean that you have to avoid carbohydrates entirely. Rather, a modest amount of minimally processed carbohydrates such as fruits like cherries or kiwi may decrease sleep latency and promote good sleep.

Find Out What Works for You

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to intermittent fasting. Everyone is unique, and so are their lifestyles. Therefore, you must find out which type of fasting suits you and what sleep arrangements work for you.

For example, some people like to start their eating window early, and research says that this pattern can augment metabolic health and sleep benefits. (25)

The body takes a few days to adjust to any alterations in an intermittent fasting routine. Hence, if you change your fasting time, allow yourself some flexibility to figure out the suitable schedule that works for you.

For example, an eight-hour fasting window may be easier to follow than 12 hours, or you may wish to have a lower calorie intake for some days of the week. Figure out what works best without being rigid.

Create a Routine and an Environment That Promote Sleep 

Sleep hygiene refers to the environment and what activities you perform before and during your sleep. Creating a sleep hygiene schedule can help you prepare for bed and enhance the quality of your sleep. Poor sleep hygiene can induce sleeping issues, daytime sleepiness, and depression. (26)

Starting your fast a few hours before bedtime will be an excellent way to kick off your evening sleep routine. Along with intermittent fasting, reducing exposure to bright lights can help you fall asleep faster.

Since the quality of sleep is impaired by exposure to blue light, especially light emitting from your phone, computer, or television, try to reduce the blue light exposure as much as you can to improve your sleep quality. If you cannot avoid such screens, use blue-light-filtering glasses to maintain a healthy sleep pattern.

Finally, you can also enhance your sleep quality by lowering your body temperature and avoiding disturbances by keeping your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool. (27)

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting restricts eating to a specific period of the day. Usually, people opt for an eight, ten, or twelve-hour eating window and fast for the remainder of the time.

For example, some people follow a 16:8 pattern, where they have to fast for 16 hours of the day and eat within the remaining eight-hour window. Similarly, in a 14:10 schedule, people restrict their food intake to 14 hours and eat within a 10-hour window.

Intermittent fasting does not focus on how many calories you eat; instead, it emphasizes your eating schedule.

If you have incorporated intermittent fasting into your daily lifestyle, you should eat healthy and mindfully to observe better results. The second crucial thing is to keep yourself hydrated during the fasting period. Drinking zero-caloric beverages such as water, black coffee, or tea without sugar and cream throughout the fasting window keeps you hydrated and energized.

However, during your intermittent fasting regimen, you should avoid inflammatory foods like sugary and carbonated drinks, refined grains and sugar, fried and processed foods, etc., since this can disturb your sleeping patterns.

The most popular intermittent fasting methods include:

• Time-Restricted Feeding (TRF): This includes abstinence from food for a certain period. In this method, healthy foods are consumed within a certain period (2). The 16:8 method is an example of TRF, which includes avoiding calorie consumption for 16 consecutive hours and consuming food within the remaining eight hours. This method is popular because it is less restrictive and can suit everyone’s schedule.
• The 5:2 Method: This method involves eating normally for five days a week and fasting for two non-consecutive days. However, you can ingest a maximum of 500-600 calories on the fasting days.
• Alternate Day Fasting Method (ADF): In this method, you have to fast every alternate day and eat normally on the other days. Like the 5:2 method, you can have a maximum of 500 calories on the fasting days. As per research, this method is beneficial for weight loss, reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, and improving heart conditions. (3)

Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Research says that intermittent fasting has numerous benefits, such as:

• It improves body metabolism and heart health (4, 5)
• Improves cognitive function (6)
• Enhances circadian rhythm and promotes better sleep (7)
• Helps in weight loss (8)
• Improves health conditions like anxiety, depression, and insomnia (9)
• Helps increase insulin sensitivity and thereby promote weight loss (10)
• May help manage type 2 diabetes (11)
• Helps prevent metabolic syndrome, which can contribute to many neurological disorders (12)
• Helps lower inflammation and improve liver and gut health (13, 14, 15, 16)

How Does Intermittent Fasting Work?

When you incorporate intermittent fasting into your daily schedule, you confine your eating time to a particular period every day. This approach prompts your body to enter a fasting state, converting fat reserves into energy, a process that results in weight loss.

When your digestive system takes a break, your body focuses on cellular repair and restoration, a process known as autophagy.

Conclusion

Although intermittent fasting is best known for losing fat and maintaining a healthy weight, it is also an excellent option for enhancing sleep quality. Additionally, mindful eating is an effective factor for getting a good sleep.

Developing a schedule that optimizes your eating window can help you make positive changes in your sleep quality and improve your energy levels and concentration throughout the day.

However, if you have any underlying medical condition, are pregnant, or are breastfeeding, it is recommended to consult with a registered nutritionist or healthcare professional before incorporating intermittent fasting into your daily regimen.

References

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