New biomedical research at Harvard says there's one more reason this whole foods approach will help you rest easier about your health.
A New Study Just Identified Another Dreamy Benefit of the Mediterranean Diet
Published on Mar. 22, 2025
The Mediterranean diet has gotten health experts’ kudos over the years, thanks in large part to what the American Heart Association applauds for playing “a big role in preventing heart disease and stroke,” as well as other major medical risk factors.
But what if following Mediterranean diet guidelines could help you sleep better, too? A new study, set to be published in April’s Sleep Medicine Reviews, now suggests it could actually play a big role in your quality of rest.
Three researchers from Harvard Medical School’s Division of Sleep Medicine, and a researcher from the Biomedical Research Institute of Murica in Spain, analyzed data from 62 previous studies encompassing 328,493 individuals, ranging from ages 6 to 74. The team’s goal was to analyze links between following the Mediterranean diet and three sleep traits: duration, quality, and chronotype (a person’s circadian rhythm, based on when they feel the least and most energized throughout the day).
The researchers concluded that individuals who had good-quality sleep were 38% were more likely to report “a diet more consistent with the Mediterranean diet,” while those with “sufficient sleep duration” were 39% more likely to eat similarly to the diet.
Interestingly, they also noted that “individuals with earlier chronotypes” (often called “early birds”) tended to follow the diet more than “later types” (people often called “night owls”).
The research team doesn’t fully assert that the Mediterranean diet causes good sleep—but rather that good sleep causes a healthier diet. Lower-quality sleep has been linked to higher risk of lifestyle disorders such as diabetes and obesity, along with higher inflammation levels as well as earlier death. In addition, research on children found that proper sleep showed benefits like “better academic achievement, better emotional regulation, and lower adiposity [body fat] measures.”
So it’s not just finger-wagging: Establishing an intentional bedtime routine to get plenty of sleep really is one important way to shed pounds, reduce inflammation, and feel way healthier. Poor sleep is rampant in the U.S.—the study reports more than one-third of American adults don’t get the recommended 7 or more hours of sleep per night.
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