Good Sleep and a Healthy Diet Key to Longer Life

A healthy diet and a good sleep pattern can help people live longer, according to a latest study from Australia.

The study, conducted by researchers at Monash University and colleagues, found that men could extend their lifespan by sleeping well. However, women needed to watch their food habits along with their sleeping patterns to live longer.

"Poor sleep has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease," Mark Wahlqvist from Monash University,  said in a news release. "We found that for both genders, poor sleep was strongly correlated with poor appetite and poor perceived health."

Data for the study came from 1865 men and women enrolled in the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (NAHSIT) for elders during 1999-2000. All the participants were aged

Researchers found that women had poor sleeping habits; almost twice as bad as men. Poor sleep was associated with lower intake of vitamin B6 from food. Also, poor sleepers had lower iron levels.

According to Wahlqvist, people with low-quality sleep had poor appetite and lower levels of physical activity.

Men and women can improve their general health by eating well and sleeping at regular hours.

"Sufficient dietary diversity in men could offset the adverse effect on mortality of poor sleep while women need to make sure they are eating foods high in vitamin B6," Professor Walhqvist said.

The study is published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

Previous research has shown sleep to be linked with mental health. A recent study had found that sleep removes toxins by allowing space between the brain cells to expand. Related research has shown that diet and exercise extend life by lengthening protective caps of chromosomes called telomeres.