LAUSR

Both macro and micronutrient intakes have an impact on sleep behaviors in athletes, notably sleep onset latency and sleep efficiency. Proper nutrient intake supports daily muscle repair and synthesis of sleep regulating compounds (e.g., serotonin and melatonin). The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between sleep behaviors and dietary intake in elite college female athletes. It was hypothesized that dietary carbohydrates and vitamin intake would be associated with both sleep timing and consistency. Twenty-three female Division I collegiate soccer players were evaluated for their sleep and nutritional patterns. Athletes wore an OURA ring (OURA Health, Oulu, Finland) each night for 31 days during the competitive season. During the final three days, athletes recorded their dietary intake using the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour Dietary Assessment Tool (ASA24). All athletes were exposed to the same travel schedule throughout the evaluation period, which did not differ by more than one time zone. Pearson’s R with Bonferonni Correction was used to assess the relationship between the average daily intake of various nutrients with average nightly sleep behaviors. Total Vitamin B12 ( r=-0.63), added Vitamin B12 ( r=-0.62), and Vitamin C ( r=-0.53) were negatively correlated with average bedtimes (P<0.01) while added Vitamin B12 ( r=-0.61) and Vitamin C ( r=-0.50) were also negatively associated with wake times (P<0.01). Greater dietary intake of kcals from carbohydrates, with respect to recommended consumption, was associated with earlier bedtimes ( r=0.41, P<0.05). In conclusion, greater intake of carbohydrates and vitamins B12 and C are associated with ideal sleep behaviors. A potential mechanism accounting for this relationship could be the enhanced contribution of antioxidants and glycemic load on the synthesis of vital hormones for sleep regulation, including serotonin and melatonin. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.