Confirmation of Candidature - Melatonin-Rich Foods: A Novel Nutritional Strategy to Optimise Sleep

Sleep is considered an essential human behaviour for biological, physical, psychological, and cognitive health. In athletic populations, sleep significantly impacts athletes' training, recovery, performance, and well-being. Athletes are often faced with the challenges of disturbed or irregular sleep patterns due to training and competition, which can have a negative impact on their overall health, well-being and performance. Melatonin is a pivotal hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle through a sleep-promoting effect and is thought to play an important role in maintaining and regulating an individual's sleep cycle. As such, melatonin supplementation is widely used by the general population and athletes alike, to regulate their melatonin levels and facilitate sleep onset to maintain a consistent sleep schedule. More recently, melatonin has also been identified in many foods of plant or animal origin, with  melatonin-rich foods sources, potentially a safer approach compared to pharmacological melatonin for enhancing sleep quality. Therefore, the objective of the proposed study is to determine the potential effects of melatonin-enriched foods in the dietary regimens of athletes and their impact on sleep characteristics.   In study 1, we will conduct a comprehensive systematic review on the efficacy of dietary melatonin sources in promoting sleep quality. This review will pinpoint any gaps or inconsistencies in prior research, aiding in the selection of the most suitable melatonin-enriched food as a dietary intervention for our subsequent investigations. In study 2, we will identify common sleep challenges faced by student-athletes and investigate the association of their sleep patterns with melatonin levels. Subsequently, in study 3, we will explore the impact of incorporating a variety of melatonin-enriched foods on key aspects of sleep quality, including sleep duration, sleep architecture, sleep efficiency, and sleep latency of student-athletes. Collectively, we aim to determine if there is an optimal dosage and timing of melatonin-enriched food consumption to optimise sleep characteristics. The findings and recommendations of our proposed research may aid the sleep challenges of athletes (student-athletes, semi-professional, and professional) and non-athlete populations (shift workers, and people suffering jet lag issues), through an evidence-based dietary intervention to improve sleep quality.

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