One Food Habit That Makes You 4X More Likely to Sleep Better
This article is the second in a series on how Americans are faring on key quality of life indicators.
I fully supported my husband’s lean-in moment when he volunteered to be the household’s designated grocery shopper during the pandemic.
Months later, after eating the Same. Exact. Food., I begged “Please, just one week without Brussels sprouts!”
Like members of most other American households, our eating habits and expectations changed compared to one year ago. Even within households, Product Rehab found that individuals are managing – or not managing – their food choices very differently. These food choices, it turns out, have a significant impact on sleep – which is especially critical to our collective health and wellbeing right now – in November 2020.
Product Rehab recently conducted a study to understand how Americans are faring on key quality of life indicators versus one year ago. This article highlights five findings on three key indicators:
1. Quality of diet
2. Variety of foods
3. Quality of sleep
#1: Only 18% of Americans are positive on all three indicators
That’s right. Only 18% of us have a higher quality diet, eat a wider variety of foods, and sleep better than we did one year ago.
In fact, only 29% are positive on the two food indicators: quality of diet and variety of food. Despite the fact that we are dining out less and buying less grab-and-go food, most Americans have not improved their diets by eating more at home.
What’s happening?
“I’m bored, so I reach for the sugar,” reports a woman who runs a household of five people. The variety of foods she eats are about the same as a year ago, but the quality of food has declined.
Some are trending far worse.
#2: 11% of Americans are negative on all three indicators
That means that 23 million Americans adults have a lower quality diet, eat a narrower variety of foods, and sleep worse than one year ago.
“It’s the cookies,” admits one empty nester “and the liquor.” Even though he is traveling a lot less for work, he still commutes every day to the office and often works after dinner. Most meals are take-out.
His wife however claims her diet is about the same as a year ago. She is starting to rotate more home-cooked meals into their dinner plans. He’ll eat what she makes, but he won’t give up the cookies or the liquor.
If you’re wondering where you stand on the indicators, here’s a simplified version of the survey questions:
If you’re not in the 18% who are positive or the 11% who are negative on all three indicators, it’s likely you fall into at least one of these three groups:
#3: 40% of Americans have a better quality diet
In total, about two-thirds of us changed the quality of our diets versus one year ago. That change goes two ways: 40% eat better, while 29% eat worse.
It’s encouraging that this scale tips in favor of better quality, though it remains a mystery as to why more than half of Americans (60%) have not improved their diets, even a little.
“It’s the Clif Bars and coffee,” says an executive whose life is now almost entirely on Zoom. With no time between meetings, he keeps a box of bars at his desk and periodically pops into the kitchen for a Nespresso to wash them down. “The other day, I went straight from coffee to cocktails, and didn’t eat any meals.”
#4: 42% of Americans eat a greater variety of foods
In total, 71% of us changed the variety of foods we eat versus one year ago – also in two very different ways: 42% get more variety while 29% eat less variety.
The data overwhelmingly shows that Americans who eat less variety also have lower quality diets. A very small percentage of those who eat less variety are in fact improving the quality of their diets, likely by cracking down on junk or other foods high in fat.
Gender Alert! Men are two times more likely to have upgraded their diets than downgraded them. This is not the case for women.
Men are significantly more likely to report having a better-quality diet (44%) than a worse one (23%), and half of all men (48%) report eating a greater variety of foods versus one year ago.
Meanwhile, unlike men, women are equally likely to have upgraded their diets as to have downgraded them.
Here’s what really counts:
#5: Americans with more variety of foods in their diet are four times more likely to sleep better
The data is crystal clear:
- If you eat a greater variety of foods than a year ago, you are four times more likely to get better quality sleep. Specifically, among those who eat a greater variety of foods, 56% get better sleep while 14% get worse sleep.
- If you have a better-quality diet than a year ago, you are two times more likely to get better quality sleep. Specifically, among those who have a better quality diet, 52% get better sleep while 24% get worse sleep.
It’s. That. Easy.
What to Do? Incent customers and employees.
With fewer meals taken at restaurants, cafeterias, and convenience stores, we’ve inadvertently reduced exposure to variety. As creatures of habit, we tend shop in the same grocery stores, order the same menu items, and prepare the same meals. With anxiety and stress levels up, we’re reaching for instant-gratification food.
With trillions of data points available on what consumers buy to eat, technology, financial services, and healthcare companies, among others, have the tools to influence healthier choices and lifestyles.
For customers, we can incent behaviors that lead to greater variety of retailers used and (healthy) foods purchased. Credit card companies are in a great position to do this through bonus point programs. This summer, American Express supported small businesses by offering cash back on purchases, incentivizing cardmembers to get out and branch out. Speaking from experience, this had a direct and immediate effect on our family's exploration of food options available in the mountain town where we sheltered.
Financial services companies are well positioned to encourage food diversity.
For employees, we can create and sustain a culture of food exploration and diversity. Whether your staff works on site, remotely, or both, food is a subject everyone can talk about and share – even in a pandemic.
In my own commitment to more plant-based meals, I overhauled the cookbook shelf and am once again enjoying the creative process in the kitchen.
I still like Brussels sprouts, but I like variety even more.
If you are interested in a deeper dive analysis of the full survey data, just ask.
Contact me at [email protected] or message me through LinkedIn.
Survey Details: This survey was conducted by Product Rehab LLC, a marketing strategy and research company, among 195 Americans representative of the U.S. population by age (18+), gender, geography, and household income between September 24 and October 5, 2020. The margin of error is +/-6%.