Introduction:

insomnia represents a growing and important health problem. If it persists, it could have a negative impact in people's welfare. Nowadays we have a wide range of techniques to measure and analyze sleep quality and quantity.

Objectives:

to demonstrate the impact of nutrition in sleep disorders.

Methods:

bibliographic review selecting the most relevant papers related to nutrition and its impact on sleep.

Results:

there is a direct correlation between some food or supplements and sleep quality and quantity. In addition, there exist some nutritional maneuvers that can help to prevent or solve some sleep disorders. The relationship between tryptophan and melatonin with the induction and maintenance of the sleep is clear, but vitamins, minerals, macronutrients and some dietetic habits can also have an impact.

Conclusions:

nutrition can have a relevant effect in the prevention and resolution of sleep disorders. Further studies are necessary to assess the real impact of nutritional treatments in insomnia.

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