Sleep duration again linked with diabetes risk
Posted on 24 April 2009
I believe that lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise have potentially profound impact on health and wellbeing, and this is certainly reflected in the voluminous recommendations that come at us regarding what we should and shouldn
Published April 24, 2009 . Filed under: Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome, Sleep, Specific conditions
There is also an association between lack of sleep and weight gain. People who sleep less seem to be more overweight and not necessarily because they spend those extra waking hours scoffing junk food. The link may be that less sleep interfered with production of growth hormone and excess calories go into fat rather than growth and repair.
As a personal aside I
April 24, 2009 @ 11:18 am
But isn’t it a personal thing? Some people feel better with less sleep and some need more. Maybe we should go by how we needed as older children and go with that. Also the quality of seep varies. Some who sleep longer may wake more often or go through the cycles in more time.
April 25, 2009 @ 10:50 pm
Liz, We invested in a memory foam mattress for our boy. He is happy and my wife and I both note how remarkably comfortable they are. What sort of mattress might be your recommendation?
Commenting as someone who is T2 diabetic (no pharmas) and has worked unsocial hours I think the sleep factor is important. I have recently, and with varying degrees of success, addressed issues of hyperinsulinemia. I have noted a marked improvement in the quality of my sleep and wakefulness when I have ( albeit subjectively speaking) addressed hyperinsulinemia.
I concur that sleep deprivation or restriction is disruptive to the ability to control blood sugar and by implication hormonal (insulin) balance. ‘Scoffing junk food’ seems to contribute to depleted energy levels, as does sleep deprevation, and in certain individuals depleted energy levels seems to contribute to craving more of the high GL carb rich junk food that perpetuates the feeling. At the recent ION conference Patrick Holford used the expression ’21st century-itis’. Factor in caffeine and alcohol for added disruption. Whatever the symptom, be it low energy levels, weight gain, or type 2 diabetes is the cause a common one, ie varying degree of metabolic dysfunction?
Hilda is correct to point out that people vary in how much sleep they need. Holford suggests that addressing the condition of hyperinsulinemia through adoption of a low GL diet will result in better sleep and raised energy levels. Sears suggests that a low GL diet reduces oxidative stress and will therefore confer a healthier and longer life.
I vary in how much sleep I need. I sleep more restfully, wake earlier, and feel ready for the day, when I have successfully addressed hyperinsulinemia through a low GL diet.
If I lived a lifestyle akin to my gatherer-hunter ancestors, I expect I would sleep well on any mattress.
April 28, 2009 @ 5:27 pm
I think people who are overweight/obese are more likely to be uncomfortable/in pain than if they were of normal weight and so they find it more difficult to fall asleep and to stay asleep, i.e. I think the weight gain causes the shorter sleep rather than being the result of the shorter sleep.
May 5, 2009 @ 3:46 pm
I have t2 diabetes and am now 68 years old. I do 15-20 minutes excercise four days a week at varying times of the day. A typical supper would be rutabaga with sauteed onions and tomatoes and baked salmon. I never eat any starches such as rice or potatoes or bread after 6 pm. I often, though not every evening, have one or two glasses of wine with dinner. I have also never been able to sleep more than five hours at a time, since I was a young man but recently I am lucky if I can sleep 4 or even 3 hours. I often fall asleep on the sofa for an hour or two right after breakfast. Tonight I woke up with a sweet taste in my mouth and when I tested, found my blood sugar was at 20. My normal blood sugar level was 6-7 but lately it has shot up to 8 on a regular basis but to my knowledge it has never been as high as 20 before. My question is, can lack of sleep cause my blood sugar level to go up? Or could a rise in my blood sugar be impairing my ability to sleep? Or could the wine be impairing my ability to absorb the sugar? Or could the wine be impairing my ability to sleep? I am conscientious about working on my diabetes but am confused about this.
January 23, 2010 @ 3:32 pm