Effects of Diet Components on the Sleep Quality of First-year Medical Students of a Medical University of Northern India

Aim: The primary aim was to find out the effect of diet components: protein-rich food (represented by the non-vegetarians) or carbohydrate- rich food (represented by the vegetarians) on the sleep quality of first-year medical students. The secondary aim was to find whether the total calorie intake and the sleep quality of the subjects had any relation. Materials and methods: Students were divided into four groups according to gender and whether they are vegetarians or non-vegetarians. All of them were required to fill their daily food consumption questionnaire, at the end of each day, for 28 days. At the end of this period, they had to fill the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire. The total calorie intake and PSQI scores were calculated and analyzed. Results: The average calorie intake and PSQI score of non-vegetarians are ± SD = 50747.78 ± 15068.05 kcal and 5.76 ± 2.57, respectively. The average calorie intake and PSQI score of vegetarians are ± SD = 60342.63 ± 18309.56 kcal and 6.02 ± 2.66, respectively. No significant correlation was found to exist between calorie intake and sleep quality, in any of the individual groups nor overall. Conclusion: The average calorie intake of vegetarians was higher, but their sleep quality was worse, due to more carbohydrate consumption and less protein consumption as compared to the non-vegetarians. More of carbohydrate and less of protein had resulted into their poorer sleep quality. Boys had overall better sleep quality than girls. Excess intake of snacks and fast food and consuming less variety of foods, as mostly seen in girls, were also found to be the dietary reasons behind their poorer sleep quality. Clinical significance: This study will help hostellers in finding the balanced combination of food components that are best for them to lead a healthy life and get the very needed sound sleep and can be beneficial for different institutions in designing their balanced hostel mess menu.