Associations between the Dietary Inflammatory Index and Sleep Metrics in the Energy Balance Study (EBS)

Abstract

(1) Background: Sleep, a physiological necessity, has strong inflammatory underpinnings. Diet is a strong moderator of systemic inflammation. This study explored the associations between the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII®) and sleep duration, timing, and quality from the Energy Balance Study (EBS). (2) Methods: The EBS (n = 427) prospectively explored energy intake, expenditure, and body composition. Sleep was measured using BodyMedia’s SenseWear® armband. DII scores were calculated from three unannounced dietary recalls (baseline, 1-, 2-, and 3-years). The DII was analyzed continuously and categorically (very anti-, moderately anti-, neutral, and pro-inflammatory). Linear mixed-effects models estimated the DII score impact on sleep parameters. (3) Results: Compared with the very anti-inflammatory category, the pro-inflammatory category was more likely to be female (58% vs. 39%, p = 0.02) and African American (27% vs. 3%, p p = 0.01), sleep efficiency decreased (βChange = −0.16, p p = 0.04) and waketime became later (βChange = 1.90, p p p = 0.64). (4) Conclusions: Future studies should address worsening sleep quality from inflammatory diets, leading to negative health outcomes, and explore potential demographic differences.

Keywords

• Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII)
• diet quality
• wake-after-sleep-onset
• bedtime
• waketime
• inflammation