Preworkout dietary supplement use in young people linked to shorter sleep

Adolescents and young adults who use preworkout dietary supplements are sleeping an average of not more than 5 h every night, as shown in a study.

Researchers used data from the second wave of the Canadian Study of Adolescent Behaviors and looked at 912 participants (mean age 23.4 years, 57.4 female, 62.2 percent White). These participants self-reported the use of preworkout dietary supplement (any/none) in the past 12 months, as well as the average hours of sleep per night over the past 2 weeks.

About a third of participants (34.9 percent) reported having an average sleep duration of 7 h per night over the past 2 weeks, while 22.2 percent reported preworkout dietary supplement use in the past 12 months.

Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that users of preworkout dietary supplement had a more than twofold greater likelihood of reporting ≤5 vs 8 h of average sleep per night (relative risk ratio [RRR], 2.53, 95 percent confidence interval, 1.27–5.05; p=0.09).

Used to boost exercise performance, preworkout dietary supplements contain high concentrations of caffeine, which can negatively impact sleep. The findings confirm that the high caffeine content of preworkout dietary supplements can have an unfavourable effect on sleep duration in this population.

The researchers underscored the need for healthcare professionals to educate young people who are using or planning to use preworkout dietary supplements about their detrimental effect on sleep duration.