Impact of Pistachio Consumption on Sleep

Summary

Sleep is essential for life and overall health. Unfortunately, a large portion of the population in the U.S. and worldwide experience sleep deficiencies, which increase their risk for developing chronic diseases. These sleep difficulties often cause distress, leading individuals to seek various forms of treatment. Given that some drugs cause habituation and undesirable side effects, individuals often turn to over-the-counter sleep remedies. However, long-term use of over-the-counter treatments is not recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine for insomnia treatment and there is currently no recommendation related to dietary management. There is a strong need to identify natural measures to improve sleep in millions of adults battling poor sleep. Diet is emerging as a potentially important modulator of sleep. Despite observational data linking greater nut intake with better sleep, and that pistachios contain a significant number of sleep-promoting compounds, no study to date has evaluated the impact of pistachio supplementation on sleep. To address this key knowledge gap, the investigators propose to conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of pistachio consumption, relative to a calorie-matched control food, on sleep in middle-aged adults with poor sleep and to explore underlying mechanisms.

Eligibility

Age range

45–64 years

Sex

All

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Interventions

• Dietary Supplement
  Pistachio

  2 servings/day for 4 weeks (56 g total/day)

• Dietary Supplement
  Control food

  Muffins and cookies (no nuts), at an equivalent number of calories as the pistachio intervention, daily

Location