For some time now, there has been Pokémon Sleep, a variant of the once so popular Pokémon GO app that allowed you to catch virtual figures outside. A few years ago, that app ensured that gamers went outside more. You don't have to go outside for Pokémon Sleep. In fact, you can only get the virtual figures by sleeping well and enough. Researchers have now used the data on sleep quality from the app to determine whether there is a relationship between healthy eating and sleep quality.
Admittedly, when you think of Pokémon, you won't immediately make the connection with health, nutrition and sleep. Yes, maybe sleep deprivation because you suffer from a gaming addiction. Nevertheless, Pokémon GO, the augmented reality game from a few years ago, succeeded in getting children - and adults - outside en masse to catch virtual Pokémon figures. Suddenly, people were playing outside again, which is of course healthy
Pokémon Sleep
Pokémon Sleep was introduced in 2023. This variant is not played outside or by hyperactively hunting virtual figures, but in your sleep. The app initially used the microphone and motion sensor of the user’s smartphone – when the device was used at night, this meant that the user was not sleeping – to measure sleep quality. The app can now also use the sensors for sleep measurements in smartwatches.
This information, coupled with data from apps that can track eating patterns – and what a person eats every day – gave researchers the idea to see if they could find a relationship between sleep quality and what a person eats. The study, conducted at the University of Tsukuba, used data from the ‘Asken’ nutrition app and data from Pokémon Sleep.
The analysis focused on 14 nutrients quantified from daily diet data from the nutrition app and total sleep time, sleep latency and wakefulness after sleep onset obtained from Pokémon Sleep. The data of 4,825 users, who had given their consent, were analyzed based on the interdependence of the main nutrients.
Eat more fat, sleep less well
The results of the study showed that the higher the total energy intake, the shorter the total sleep time and the longer the wake time after sleep onset. Participants with a high protein intake had a longer total sleep time, and participants with a high intake of monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids had a shorter sleep latency and shorter wakefulness after sleep onset, while participants with a high intake of monounsaturated fatty acids had a longer sleep latency and longer wakefulness after sleep onset.
Participants with a high intake of dietary fiber had a longer total sleep time and a shorter sleep latency and wakefulness after sleep onset, and participants with a high sodium intake (high sodium-potassium ratio) had a shorter total sleep time and a longer sleep latency and wakefulness after sleep onset. The full study was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Although a few years ago, the use and value of monitoring sleep quality using a smartwatch was viewed with some skepticism, these wearables have undergone significant development in recent years, both technically and qualitatively. Nowadays, it is very common for smartwatches to be used to monitor heart rate, cardiac arrhythmias (Afib), hart failure, blood oxygen levels, sleep apnea and even blood pressure.
