Eat Better, Sleep Better: 75 Recipes and A 28-Day Meal Plan That Unlock the Food-Sleep Connection

by Dr Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Kat Craddock

Genres: Cookbooks, Health, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published January 21, 2025

Reviews

[Kristen Barenthaler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative. Well-research. Recipes look good. Honestly, anything that helps with sleep is a plus.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nutrition and sleep are deeply interconnected. The book, "Eat Better, Sleep Better" was written to provide the general public with a guide to understanding the connections between sleep, diet, and health, with practical methods and delicious, easy-to-follow recipes to apply the scientifically-based guidance to improve your sleep and, by extension, your health and your life. The book is aptly co-authored by Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge, a leader in the scientific community in studying the intersections between sleep, diet, and health outcomes, and Kat Craddock, a renowned chef, recipe developer, and cookbook author and editor.

There is much more to the sleep-diet connection besides the conventional advice: "Don't consume too much caffeine close to bedtime." Part 1 of the book is where Dr. St-Onge's expertise in the sleep-diet relationship shines: it is a deep dive into the connections between sleep and diet. In just ~50 pages, Dr. St-Onge delves into the science of nutrition and sleep–how you eat impacts your sleep, and vice versa. Dr. St-Onge does a fantastic job distilling the large body of scientific literature into simple language and practical advice. This section starts with the basics by reviewing the biology of sleep, what healthy sleep cycles look like, and how external inputs impact sleep–not just light/dark exposure, but also what and when we eat. This section goes quite deep into the sleep-diet connection, reviewing how certain nutrients are crucial precursors to hormones that regulate sleep. This section also covers sleep-relevant micronutrients, alcohol and caffeine considerations, the value of consistent bed/wake times and meal times, "circadian misalignment" from common situations–ex, jetlag, night-shift work, and much more. Both science nerds AND non-science nerds looking for simple ways to improve their diet, health, and sleep will love this section.

Part 2 is "the plan" on how to apply the science of the sleep-diet connection to our lives. It contains a master list of foods, their sleep-supporting nutrients, and practical tips for food shopping to save on costs. This section culminates in a 4-week meal plan to improve your sleep. Looking at this plan, which contains breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals for 4-weeks, I can admit that it is a bit intimidating to follow, but perhaps that is not the point: even adding one or two of the meals or snacks per day contained in this meal plan, or finding just a few that you like, can notably improve your sleep.

Part 3 is the recipes. This section contains delicious, nutritionally balanced recipes to promote healthy sleep. It includes seven sections: pantry, breakfast, salads and soups, side dishes and meatless mains, low-stress evening meals, sweets for sleep, and sleep-supporting sippers. The recipes are friendly to vegans, vegetarians, and meat lovers alike. Each recipe contains an overview that describes the nutrients prominent in the recipe, sometimes a cute personal anecdote or cultural history of the dish, and recommendations for certain dietary restrictions or allergies. The photos are beautiful and make my mouth water. I have not cooked any recipes yet, but after reading through them, they seem simple and accessible. I can't wait to get into the beet hummus, midsummer compote, tomato salad, creamy lemon-turkey soup, spiced red lentils, lemony baked trout, and brown rice pudding. There are options for every palate here.

"Eat Better, Sleep Better" is truly a gem. I've never encountered a book in the nutrition realm focusing on diet and sleep with delicious recipes to add to your repertoire to improve your sleep and health materially. Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge is a leader in the scientific community who studies the intersections between sleep, diet, and health outcomes. Although I am familiar with much of her research, the opportunity to read this book, which packaged the scientific literature into easy-to-follow language and guidance, was a gift. Not only is this hardcover book aesthetically beautiful (it will look very nice on display on my bookshelf), but it is undoubtedly a cookbook that I will gift to friends and family because most people struggle with getting consistent quality sleep. And I love the expansive cookbook section. If I had any criticism, I'd love to see some nutritional breakdowns (calories, macronutrients, micronutrients, etc.) for the recipes and perhaps a more firmly expressed caveat that one does not have to follow the 4-week plan precisely to improve your sleep. That said, the 4-week plan could be a fun challenge for finding new staple recipes and building better cooking and eating habits.

Overall, this book was thoroughly enjoyable and enriching. Even as someone with a master's degree in nutrition, I learned a lot and appreciated the breadth of the material.

[Paul Sutter]

They say you what you eat. But perhaps it would be better if we lived with the notion of “you are how you sleep.” There is little question there is a direct correlation between sleep and health. If you wake up tired, it is probable that the rest of your day will suffer because of it. Now in the book EAT BETTER, SLEEP BETTER, we discover the foods that not only are good for the body but also good for those hours when we are in bed, hopefully in restful dreamland.
Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge, is the founding director of the Center for Excellence for Sleep and Circadian Rhythm. She is also a nutritionist and pioneer in the field of sleep health. Considering the fact that according to some statistics, half of the general population have a difficult time falling asleep, and once asleep they have as tough a time staying asleep, there is little doubt there is a direct connection with sleep and food.
Within the pages of this most informative book, the authors go into detail about the foods that are the worst offenders when it comes to a positive experience between the sheets at night, or whenever you decide to get into a deep sleep. Within the early chapters, the authors talk of the main ingredients for a good night’s sleep. There are several steps toward such sleep. One of the steps is combining protein and carbohydrates. Fiber is also a sleep aid as well. Tryptophan has also been noted as a sleep aid, and can be found certain meats like turkey. But it is also present in nuts, beans, seeds, and whole grains like oats and brown rice. Four essential micronutrients are also discussed. They are: zinc, magnesium, vitamin B6, and folate.
There are many disruptors of sleep, and how we can deal with them by eliminating caffeine and alcohol especially closer to bedtime. What the book is also about, are the recipes that will help with your sleep, because as the titles notes when you eat better, you also sleep better. There are 75 recipes in the book, and a sampling of them includes: spiced buckwheat porridge with dates, tahini and Greek yogurt, Chickpean gemelli with butternut squash, walnuts and parmesan, whole grain chicken porridge with scallions and sesame cashew crunch, seeded cornmeal crackers, Portugese-style tomato rice with mussels and scallions, and sleepy seeded apricot-pistachio granola, among others. By reading the book and following the advice, you have nothing to lose but a bad night’s sleep, but also you gain a healthier lifestyle in the process.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Eat Better, Sleep Better is a graphically appealing look at the connections between diet, somatic health, and sleep, presented by Dr Marie-Pierre St-Onge & Kat Craddock. Due out 21st Jan 2025 from Simon & Schuster on their Simon Element imprint, it's 288 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.

The excerpt provided for review is beautifully photographed and appealing throughout. The author/publisher have not included any recipes in the publicity materials, but the background and chapter excerpts are well written and scientifically sound. The authors draw a line between nutrition and sleep/circadian rhythm.

The recipes are arranged thematically: pantry items, breakfast, salads & soups, side dishes & meatless mains, low-stress evening meals, sweets for sleep, and sleep supporting sippers. The author/publisher have also included (in the release copy) resources, references, and index.

The recipes as pictured are attractive and appetizing, professionally styled and in color.

Four stars (impossible to evaluate fully without recipes and could well be higher in the final evaluation), and would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition or home use.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Miriam Downey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first part of this book is a discussion of the many ways that what you eat can affect how you sleep. The introduction says, “While there are innumerable everyday problems and stressors that can keep you up at night, it is also true that, like any health concern, diet plays an essential role in reversing, or at least ameliorating , illness, and what you eat is an essential part of improving your sleep health.”

I have always considered my diet as an essential part of my health, but I never considered it part of my sleep routine. The recipes that make up the second half of the book look very good. Lots of beans and legumes. I am going to give several of them a try.

I received the book from the publisher. Thanks.

[Leni Konstas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The core teachings of eating the right foods, getting enough sleep and eating at the right times are covered. Some recipes are more easily mastered than others, but definitely underestimated in time. Chickpea flour pancake was physically difficult, but red lentil curry came together easily with a few substitutions. One recipe, the delicious tahini sesame shortbread appears to be missing an estimated bake time entirely. Would definitely recommend giving it a look, we borrowed it from the library and found a few favorites.

[Toby Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

5,000 Stars

What a beautiful and informative book! I learned so much about aspects of sleeping, especially the sections on jetlag and RLS, which I have. And the recipes are spot on. I can't wait to try the stuffed tomatoes, the green spring gumbo, garlic shrimp, chia pudding, the gem salad, the sleepy London fog, and the herbes salees.

I found the meal plan to be so inspiring. This is just a great all-around book and cookbook!

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eat nutritious foods, exercise and get a good night's sleep.
I was unaware of the correlation between food and sleep.
Yet many of the top nutritional foods also help with sleep.
For me the book was great reinforcement of this.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting science in the lengthy intro. Recipes all look pretty good but a lot are ones we already make in various versions.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cookbook had equal amounts of research and recipes. I read EVERYTHING!!! I started switching up my diet and have already noticed results.