Recent research by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) found that almost half of us sleep for less than seven hours the previous night. While seven hours is the minimum recommended sleeping time for good health, 43% of 1,576 adults surveyed said they hadn’t achieved this amount of sleep the night before, with 80% waking up at least once.
‘The implications of a bad night’s sleep can go much further than feeling tired,’ says Dr Lucy Chambers, senior scientist at BNF. ‘Lack of, or disturbed, sleep can lead to feeling grumpy and irritable, but regular poor-quality sleep can have a negative impact on dietary choices, too, including higher intakes of calories and more frequent snacking on less healthy foods.’ Of those surveyed, nearly one in 10 admitted to consuming alcohol before bed and only 20% of those who did so said they felt well rested the next day. So ditch the late-night tipple and wake up feeling refreshed!