New research has indicated that people are more likely to drink sugar-sweetened drinks if they sleep for five hours or less in the night.
However, it is still unclear whether being deprived of sleep causes people to have drinks high in sugar or caffeine, or whether having these drinks in the first place causes sleep deprivation.
A team of scientists from the University of California, San Francisco, analysed data on 18,779 adults, which had been collected between 2005 and 2012 through the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES). In addition to reporting their dietary habits, which included details on their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) such as energy drinks and fizzy drinks, the participants provided information on how much sleep they tended to get each working week.
Compared to people who slept between seven and eight hours each night, the researchers found a 21 per cent increased consumption of caffeinated SSBs for people who slept for five hours or less.
For those who slept for six hours each night in the working week, they regularly drank 11 per cent more caffeinated SSBs than those sleeping between seven and eight hours.
“Short sleepers may seek out caffeinated sugar-sweetened beverages to increase alertness and stave off daytime sleepiness,” said Aric A. Prather, professor at UCSF and lead author.
“However, it’s not clear whether drinking such beverages affects sleep patterns, or if people who don’t sleep much are more driven to consume them. Unfortunately, the data in the current study do not allow us to draw any conclusions about cause and effect.”
“Sleeping too little and drinking too many sugary drinks have both been linked to negative metabolic health outcomes, including obesity. Given the likely two-way relationship between sugary drinks and short sleep, enhancing the duration and quality of sleep could be a useful new intervention for improving the health and well-being of people who drink a lot of sugary beverages.”
The study is being published in December’s issue of Sleep Health.
