Sleep, diet or exercise? This is the factor most associated with better mental health

Get your eight hours of sleep each night. That is the usual message, because getting enough sleep can bring many health benefits.

But sleep quality is perhaps the most important predictor of good mental health, more than hours of sleep, physical activity, and diet, according to a new study of young adults by researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand.

Disturbed sleep has been linked to poor mental health in the past, including depression and other mood disorders. Eating a well-balanced diet has also prevented depression, and even short exercise cycles can promote your mental and physical health.

But sleep, diet and exercise are complex sets of behaviors that are inseparable in real life.

While we’ve seen many previous studies looking at what affects our mental health, one factor at a time, this new study considers three lifestyle factors – sleep, diet and exercise – in one analysis in an attempt to understand which one has the greatest impact on mental health among young adults.

“Sleep, physical activity, and a healthy diet can be thought of as three pillars of health, which can contribute to promoting optimal well-being among young adults,” said lead author Shay-Ruby Wickham, of Otago School of Medicine .

“While extensive research has shown mental health and well-being benefits of sleep, physical activity, and diet as individual predictors, research examining the three behaviors together is limited…,” the team explained in their paper.

“Knowing the importance of each of these lifestyle behaviors, individually or in combination, and the order of importance will inform mental health interventions at the people and each individual, “they said.

Some previous research suggests that healthy behaviors such as eating well or exercising frequently can have an older effect on well-being, where more than one good thing leads to another positive change.

But it’s another possibility that some healthy behaviors may compensate for less good alternatives, like the food you hit after hard work.

In this study, the researchers studied more than 1,100 young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 to compare the three major health factors that affect mental health side by side.

People who completed the online survey between 2018 and 2019 were asked about their feelings and well-being, diet, exercise and sleep habits. They also reported how refreshed they usually felt after waking up each morning, which is an established sign of good sleep.

Maintaining good mental and physical health is not easy for young adults who tend to experience significant changes in their daily habits, sleep patterns, job demands, lifestyle and living conditions at a critical time. the development.

Study participants, living in the United States and New Zealand, were of mixed age: some were already eating a vegetable or vegan diet; others were taking antidepressants for their health conditions; and less than a third of whom are identified as male. But the researchers made changes in their analysis to account for these differences.

People who slept nearly 10 hours a night reported fewer symptoms of depression, but not enough (<8 h) or too much sleep (>12 h) whether people reported more symptoms of depression.

Eating a moderate amount of raw fruits and vegetables daily was also associated with improved well-being.

And while physical activity was the second clearest sign of well-being, sleep quality was far above them all as the strongest predictor of good mental health.

“This is surprising because sleep recommendations are largely focused on quantity rather than quality,” Wickham said.

Since the study made no changes to people’s sleep, activity or diet, we can only draw links between behavior and outcomes, and cannot give reasons.

Carefully, the researchers suggest in their paper that young adults should prioritize getting good sleep, but they also emphasize the importance of eating well and exercise often because “physical activity and high school diet are still important factors.”

“Our findings suggest that future lifestyle interventions that focus on sleep quality may be very beneficial in improving mental health and well-being. However, it should not disregard physical activity and diet, “the researchers wrote.

The findings of this study are based solely on people’s responses to a set of questions, and not on findings from direct surveys or health assessments. There was only one question in some parts of the questionnaire – designed to encourage more people to respond – so more comprehensive steps are needed to investigate further.

University of Otago researchers have begun analyzing data from another study of young New Zealand adults, which included an assessment of their well-being, lifestyle, diet, sleep and daily exercise for two weeks. – but that follow-up study was not peer-reviewed.

In the meantime, we can all easily relax with the knowledge of a few simple ways to improve the quality of our sleep: create a routine that takes time to go down after dark, and remove screens and dim lights before bed.

The research was published in Boundaries in Psychology.

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