Why might afternoon nappers be at greater risk of diabetes?
Posted on 11 March 2009
I noticed a few reports last week (an example here) regarding a study that was presented at a diabetes conference. Apparently, the research shows that individuals taking naps in the afternoon is associated with a significantly enhanced risk of developing diabetes. When such studies are reported there
Published March 11, 2009 . Filed under: Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome, Low-Carbohydrate/Carbohydrate Restriction, Sleep, Specific conditions, Stress
Balancing blood sugar levels through healthy eating habits is one great place to start building health in general.
Great blog, I just discovered it through HSI and love the balanced tone.
Thanks!
March 11, 2009 @ 7:36 pm
Great cartoon noting that correlatin does not equal causation:
http://conditioningresearch.blogspot.com/2009/03/correlation-doesnt-equal-causation.html
March 12, 2009 @ 2:39 pm
How daft can people get? Napping causes diabetes? Just like people who live in a country with more TVs get more cancer. It’s true but not causal. Sleeing more is related to low thyroid.
March 13, 2009 @ 7:43 pm
This may be so, however the horizon TV programme on ‘the body clock’ had an expert who said it was normal for the human to have a nap in the afternoon, though he said about 2 pm. My father always had a 20 min nap after lunch long before he became old. He lived to 90 and did not develop diabetes. Also age alters sleep patterns?
I find if I often get sleepy immediately after a meal, & once practically conked out after foolishly gorging on half a loaf of ciabatta, which I avoid now!
March 14, 2009 @ 1:19 am
I think in my case, sleeping in the afternoon is associated with having a teething toddler up at night!
March 17, 2009 @ 4:52 am
My insulin resistance is hugely improved over what it was but my carb intolerance in the morning is still about twice what it is in the evening. Many diabetics have an even greater slope.
One thing I’ve noticed is that if I have a postprandial nap/siesta it appears to reset my carb intolerance back to breakfast levels.
I can stay normoglycemic with a maximum of 15g carbs at breakfast, rising to 30 – 50g in the evening. If I then have a nap for a couple of hours and get up I am restricted back to 15g carbs again.
OTOH when my BG was uncontrolled I used to find it impossible to keep my eyes open a couple of hours after eating: a brief nap and I would jerk awake again. Analysis showed that my BG would spike after eating then drop rapidly (Reactive Hypoglycemia) and the rapid drop would cause a dump of cortisol and adrenalin followed by a mass of glucose from the liver.
Many diabetics get “Dawn Phenomenon” where the liver releases a load of glucose on wakening (normal people do this too but the glucose is covered by insulin which is lacking in diabetes). I never used to do this *until* I overexerted myself in the morning which could double my BG quite rapidly without any food being involved.
So IMO it’s a circular process, the sleep/wake cycle feeds insulin resistance and insulin and BG levels feed back to the wakefulness
Now my body is trained to run on ketones rather than glucose where possible, these variations are greatly improved
March 22, 2009 @ 5:03 am