Five cups of fruit and veg a day may help you sleep better – starting tonight.
You have tried it all: herbal teas, melatonin, even timing your workouts just right. But according to new research, one of the most powerful sleep remedies may already be sitting on your dinner plate.
A new study led by researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine and Columbia University found that eating more fruits and vegetables during the day is associated with significantly improved sleep quality that very night.
It is becoming more apparent than ever that our daily habits shape our sleep health. Even small changes in what we eat can have fast and meaningful effects.
Food for Thought – And for Sleep
Poor sleep is not just frustrating. It affects memory, focus, mood, and heart health. It can even raise long-term risks for conditions like diabetes.
While the health effects of poor sleep are well-documented, much less attention has been given to how daytime behaviours, particularly diet, shape our sleep at night.
Previous studies had drawn the link between high fruit and vegetable intake with better sleep quality, as reported by participants. This latest research used wearable technology to objectively track sleep. Researchers focused on sleep fragmentation – how often a person wakes up or shifts between light and deep sleep.
Sleep Through The Night With Five Cups a Day
Healthy young adults participants logged their daily food intake through an app and wore wrist monitors overnight.
The results were clear. On days when participants ate more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, they had less fragmented sleep. Their rest was deeper and more continuous.
It was estimated that eating the CDC-recommended five cups of fruits and vegetables daily could lead to a 16% improvement in sleep quality compared to those who consumed no fruits and vegetables.
Furthermore, improvement happened within the same 24 hours – which means what you eat today will directly shape your sleep tonight.
So, What Should We Eat?
Many people wonder: Is there something I can eat to help me sleep better? According to the data, the answer is yes!
Fibre-rich fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates like whole grains were most strongly associated with deeper, more restful sleep. This aligns with the CDC and Malaysian Dietary Guidelines (MDG), which recommend five cups of fruits and vegetables daily for adults, and even goes beyond Singapore’s Health Promotion Board guidelines of two servings of fruit and two servings of vegetables each day.
A handy guide on serving sizes of fruits and vegetables:
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Such advice often gets overlooked or feels hard to stick to. But when the payoff is better sleep, suddenly that lunch salad or veggie smoothie starts looking a lot more appealing to the sleep-deprived population.
Future studies may explore how these findings apply to older adults, those with sleep disorders, or those with different diets and lifestyles. There can be amazing human biological systems playing a role in this food-sleep connection, be it whether digestion, gut health, or metabolism.
Unlike many sleep solutions that come with a price tag or demand major lifestyle changes, this one is refreshingly straightforward. No devices to charge, no supplements to chase – just a little more colour on your plate, in the form of fruits and vegetables.
External References
- Boege HL, Wilson KD, Kilkus JM, et al. Higher daytime intake of fruits and vegetables predicts less disrupted nighttime sleep in younger adults. Sleep Health. Published online May 28, 2025. doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2025.05.003
