Pre-sleep feeding, sleep quality, and markers of recovery in division I NCAA female soccer players

• Published in: Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition Vol. 20; no. 1; p. 2236055
• Main Authors: Greenwalt, Casey E, Angeles, Elisa, Vukovich, Matthew D, Smith-Ryan, Abbie E, Bach, Chris W, Sims, Stacy T, Zeleny, Tucker, Holmes, Kristen E, Presby, David M, Schiltz, Katie J, Dupuit, Marine, Renteria, Liliana I, Ormsbee, Michael J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis Ltd 01.12.2023; BioMed Central; Routledge; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: athlete sleep quality; Athletes; Female; female athlete nutrition; female athlete physiology; Females; Human health and pathology; Humans; Life Sciences; pre-sleep nutrition; Retrospective Studies; Sleep; Sleep Quality; Soccer - physiology; Tissues and Organs; athlete sleep quality; Pre-sleep nutrition; female athlete physiology; female athlete nutrition
• ISSN: 1550-2783; 1550-2783
• DOI: 10.1080/15502783.2023.2236055

Pre-sleep nutrition habits in elite female athletes have yet to be evaluated. A retrospective analysis was performed with 14 NCAA Division I female soccer players who wore a WHOOP, Inc. band - a wearable device that quantifies recovery by measuring sleep, activity, and heart rate metrics through actigraphy and photoplethysmography, respectively - 24 h a day for an entire competitive season to measure sleep and recovery. Pre-sleep food consumption data were collected via surveys every 3 days. Average pre-sleep nutritional intake (mean ± sd: kcals 330 ± 284; cho 46.2 ± 40.5 g; pro 7.6 ± 7.3 g; fat 12 ± 10.5 g) was recorded. Macronutrients and kcals were grouped into high and low categories based upon the 50 percentile of the mean to compare the impact of a high versus low pre-sleep intake on sleep and recovery variables. Sleep duration (  = 0.10, 0.69, 0.16, 0.17) and sleep disturbances (  = 0.42, 0.65, 0.81, 0.81) were not affected by high versus low kcal, PRO, fat, CHO intake, respectively. Recovery (  = 0.81, 0.06, 0.81, 0.92), RHR (  = 0.84, 0.64, 0.26, 0.66), or HRV (  = 0.84, 0.70, 0.76, 0.93) were also not affected by high versus low kcal, PRO, fat, or CHO consumption, respectively. Consuming a small meal before bed may have no impact on sleep or recovery.