How a little red wine may improve sleep

Thursday November 3rd, 2011

The so-called Mediterranean diet is known for its healthy properties - and now researchers say it may also deal with sleep disturbance.

Researchers on the island of Crete say their findings do not show an overall improvement in the condition sleep apnoea - but they did find a link to a reduced number of cases of disturbance during rapid eye movement sleep.

The research involved 40 obese people, of whom half were assigned to eat a Mediterranean diet.

The diet involved nine helpings of fruit and vegetables a day with two glasses of red wine.

There was more fish and less red meat than eaten by the other participants - but no increase in olive oil use.

The other participants were not allowed to drink red wine. All participants were encouraged to take more exercise.

The researchers said those on the Mediterranean diet found it easier to keep to than others - and also lost more fat and showed more physical activity than the others.

The findings are reported in the European Respiratory Journal.

Researcher Christopher Papandreou, of the University of Crete, Greece, said: "More studies are needed to examine the effect of the above diet on this sleep-related breathing disorder taking into account its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties."

Christopher Papandreou, Sophia E. Schiza, Izolde Bouloukaki, Christos M. Hatzis, Anthony G. Kafatos, Nikolaos M. Siafakas, and Nikolaos E. Tzanakis. European Respiratory Journal November 2 2011 doi: 10.1183/09031936.00103411

Tags: Diet & Food | Europe | Respiratory

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