ISLAMABAD, March 06 (Online): Individuals with sleep durations of five or fewer hours per day could have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
\nResearchers also reported that eating a healthy diet did not lower the risk of type 2 diabetes from insufficient sleep.<\/p>\n
However, they added that daily exercise might decrease the risk of diabetes and offset the results of insufficient sleep.
\nPeople who regularly sleep five hours or less per night are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, regardless of their diet, according to a studyTrusted Source published today in the journal JAMA Network Open.<\/p>\n
Researchers used data from 247,867 participants between the ages of 38 and 71, with a mean age of almost 56, from the UK Biobank to examine the connection between sleep patterns, eating habits, and type 2 diabetes.Participants completed an electronic questionnaire asking, \u201cAbout how many hours of sleep do you get every 24 hours, including naps?\u201d They also answered questions about their diet.<\/p>\n
The scientists grouped the participants into one of four categories of daily sleep duration:<\/p>\n
7-8 hours \u2013 normal
\n6 hours \u2013 mildly short
\n5 hours \u2013 moderately short
\n3-4 hours \u2013 extremely short
\nAbout 75% of participants reported normal sleep duration; nearly 20% reported mildly short duration, almost 4% reported moderately short, and less than 1% reported extremely short sleep duration.<\/p>\n
Scores for diet ranged from 0 (unhealthy) to 5 (healthy). Participants\u2019 scores were:<\/p>\n
1% scored 0
\n7% scored 1
\n17% scored 2
\n27% scored 3
\n29% scored 4
\n17% scored 5
\nThe researchers noted that prolonged periods of insufficient sleep can contribute to various health problems, including an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Indeed, they found that people sleeping 5 hours or less per day had a higher risk of type 2 diabetes compared to those with a normal sleep duration.<\/p>\n
The average follow-up period for the study was 12 years. During this time, 3% (7,905) of participants developed type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n
Lack of sleep and type 2 diabetes risk
\nThe scientists indicated that increasing daily sleep duration to seven hours might reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n
However, they acknowledged that for some people, challenges could make it difficult to achieve this goal. Some obstacles include work schedules, child care responsibilities, health conditions such as sleep apnea, and economic pressures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not surprising to me,\u201d said Dr. Pouya Shafipour, a family and obesity medicine physician at Providence Saint John\u2019s Health Center in California who was not involved in the study.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you don\u2019t sleep well or for long enough, your insulin levels can be off. You might be hungrier than normal the next day, so your food consumption is also off. Over the long term, these can contribute to developing diabetes,\u201d Shafipour told Medical News Today.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough I wasn\u2019t surprised, it was reassuring because it provides proof of what I have been saying,\u201d he added. \u201cI can share this information with my patients that they shouldn\u2019t ignore their sleep. Too often, individuals do not make sleep a priority. People use their phones and play games when they should be sleeping. Sleep hygiene is so important to overall health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diet, exercise and type 2 diabetes risk
\nAlthough participants with healthy diets did have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the researchers said the study results did not support the idea that a healthy diet could offset short sleep duration.<\/p>\n
The researchers did point out a healthy lifestyle might lower the risk of diabetes.<\/p>\n
They identified a small 2021 study suggesting that high-intensity exercise reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n
Additionally, they noted that a population-based cohort study also using participants from the UK Biobank, found that individuals with short sleep durations who engaged in regular physical activity could lower their risk of developing diabetes.<\/p>\n
\u201cExercise directly influences skeletal muscles, which are essential for regulating blood glucose levels. It boosts the expression of glucose transporters in these muscles, enhancing the uptake of glucose from the bloodstream,\u201d Christian Benedict, PhD, one of the authors of the study and an associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences at Uppsala University in Sweden, told Medical News Today. \u201cWhile maintaining a healthy diet, such as consuming more complex carbohydrates, also positively impacts blood sugar levels, its effects may not be as significant as those of exercise in counteracting impaired blood glucose control resulting from sleep loss.\u201d<\/p>\n
But not everyone agrees with that assessment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t agree that vigorous exercise can lower the risk of diabetes \u2013 maybe in the short term \u2013 but I don\u2019t believe it can take the place of regular sleep,\u201d Shafipour said. \u201cDiet and exercise are important \u2013 but so is sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Limitations to the type 2 diabetes and sleep study
\nThe researchers did not look at different types of diets, so it isn\u2019t clear whether eating plans such as the Mediterranean diet would lower the risk of diabetes in people with short sleep durations.<\/p>\n
In addition, macronutrients and micronutrients were not explored in this study, so it\u2019s not certain if they can counter the effects of short sleep durations.<\/p>\n
Another limitation is that sleep duration and dietary habits were self-reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, March 06 (Online): Individuals with sleep durations of five or fewer hours per day could have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Researchers also reported that eating a healthy diet did not lower the risk of type 2 diabetes from insufficient sleep. […]<\/p>\n
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