Your poor sleep may result from a high-fat diet, according to a study presented at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, media reported Wednesday.

The study, led by Cibele Crispim, MS, of the Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, suggests that the more fat you consume each day, the less likely you are to get a good night's sleep.

Eating fat-laden cheeseburgers and fries for dinner may be particularly disruptive to your sleep pattern, it says.

Studies in the sleep lab showed that overall, the more fat they ate each day, the more times they woke up, tossing and turning, throughout the night.

Eating more fat meant greater chance of abnormal breathing, less time spent in rapid eye movement(REM) while sleeping.

REM sleep, a sleep state during which dreaming occurs, helps you become energetic the next day, according to American Academy of Sleep Medicine spokesman Ron Kramer, MD.

(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2008)