This is another reason to get better sleep.
Do you find yourself consistently getting insufficient sleep each night?
In addition to leaving you feeling groggy throughout the day, recent research suggests that your insomnia might also be increasing your risk for type 2 diabetes. According to findings from Swedish researchers, individuals who consistently sleep five hours per night have a 16% higher likelihood of developing the blood sugar illness compared to those who obtain the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep. Moreover, those who only manage three to four hours of sleep face an even higher risk, with a 41% increased chance of developing diabetes. Surprisingly, even individuals who maintain a healthy diet demonstrate a similar elevation in diabetes risk if they are habitual short sleepers.
Christian Benedict, the lead author of the study and a sleep researcher at Uppsala University’s Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, emphasized that these results are the first to cast doubt on whether a nutritious diet can offset the adverse effects of sleep deprivation on the risk of type 2 diabetes. While Benedict suggests that individuals who consistently get inadequate sleep need not panic over the association with diabetes, he underscores the importance of recognizing the critical role that sleep plays in overall health.
The study, based on data from nearly 248,000 participants in the UK Biobank database, tracked individuals’ health and lifestyle factors over a span of more than a decade. While the researchers found minimal differences in diabetes risk for those who slept six hours per night compared to the recommended seven to eight hours, heightened vulnerabilities emerged among individuals who slept less than six hours.
It’s important to note that the study does not establish a cause-and-effect relationship, and Benedict emphasizes that developing diabetes is not inevitable for short sleepers. Factors such as personal genetics and individual sleep requirements vary widely among individuals, contributing to differences in susceptibility to diabetes.
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