Sleep and Diabetes

Every year more and more people are diagnosed with diabetes. Every year more and more people suffer from chronic sleep deprivation. This is no coincidence as sleep and diabetes (type 2) are connected. Here's How...

Before we try to understand the sleep and diabetes connection let's first look at some shocking statistics on sleep and diabetes:

Diabetes

Sleep

Sleep and Diabetes have a connection which isn't obvious and has to do with hormone changes and lifestyle choices. 

Sleep - Why Aren’t We Getting Enough?

There are many reasons why we aren't get the amount of sleep we need each night which is 7 to 9 hours of sleep. Some of these reasons include living busy lives, spending too much time in front of our screens, artificial lighting, job stresses and sometimes we simply aren't prioritizing our sleep.

Surprisingly, in the U.S. alone 1 in 3 people aren’t getting the recommended minimum 7 hours of sleep and this lack of sleep affects us in so many ways including (ref):

In this article we will focus on the relationship between sleep and diabetes.

Sleep and Diabetes - How They Relate

Hormones

With chronic sleep deprivation, our hormones are out of whack. Let's look at some of these hormones to understand how they affect our sugar levels.

Insulin and How It Affects Sleep and Diabetes

Our body needs energy to function. We get this energy when insulin converts the sugar that we eat (glucose) into energy. It's job is to make sure our blood sugar levels don’t get too high (hyperglycemia) or too low (hypoglycemia).

When we don't have a good nights rest, our insulin production goes down. With low insulin levels, sugar is not efficiently converted into energy which results in higher sugar in our blood stream.

In some cases, our body can become insulin resistance and when this happens, our cells fail to use the insulin efficiently. Without insulin doing it's job, our blood sugar levels rise. Diabetes occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells do not properly use the insulin. Consistent high blood sugar levels are dangerous and can harm the eyes, nerves, kidneys and/or the heart.

Cortisol and How It Affects Sleep and Diabetes

Cortisol (known as the stress hormone) typically helps us stay awake and alert and gives us that temporary boost of energy. When we feel stress, our cortisol levels rise to give us the energy to fight or flight the situation. Once the situation is over our cortisol levels naturally drop.

When we skimp on our sleep, our cortisol levels rise which can leave us feeling awake (not great when it's bedtime), anxious and overwhelmed. High cortisol levels also interfere with Insulin leaving us with higher sugar levels in our blood.

The Appetite Related Hormones - Leptin and Ghrelin

When we aren't getting enough sleep, we wake up exhausted with little energy to make it through the day. We look for a quick energy fix and often will consume sugar or high calorie foods that spike our sugar levels.  In the background we have two appetite hormones that are also thrown off - Leptin and Ghrelin. These hormones control our feelings of hunger and fullness.

Not getting enough shut eye:

• reduces your levels of Leptin which tells your brain that you are full and
• increases your levels of Ghrelin which stimulates your appetite telling your body you're hungry 

This explains why we sometimes overeat or crave carbohydrates and sugary foods in the night time. Our appetite and satiety signals are out of whack. This overeating causes havoc on insulin and blood sugar levels and puts us at a higher risk of obesity (and type 2 diabetes).

Exercise

Short changing our daily sleep will leave us feeling low energy with little motivation to get moving. The probability is low that we will incorporate a workout in our day when we feel this way. Less exercise impacts both our blood sugar levels and our weight management which can lead to obesity and once again puts us at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Exercise also helps our body manage stress so that we are able to stay calm and are able to sleep at night.

Sleep and Diabetes : A Scientific Study

To see some scientific evidence of the sleep and diabetes relationship, we looked at a researchers at the Taho University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan. Their findings are now published in the American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism.

The goal of this study was to see how poor sleep impacts risk factors for diabetes in a group of mice.

• The mice were given access to unlimited high-fat food and sugar water for 2 weeks.
• They were not allowed much exercise as their movement was restricted.
• In the duration of one night, half the mice in this group were kept awake for 6 hours during their usual sleep time. 
• The other half of the mice were allowed to sleep well undisturbed.

The study observed the mice for one night.

Immediately after the sleep intervention study the scientists measured glucose levels and fat content in the liver. They found elevated blood glucose in the liver of sleep-deprived mice. This was just after one 6-hour period of sleep deprivation!

Other enzymes in the mice were also checked and showed the sleep deprived mice to have higher levels of triglycerides. Triglycerides are associated with an increase in insulin resistance.

Liver enzymes that are associated with metabolism were also impacted.

From this study the scientists conclude that sleep deprivation is a risk factor for diabetes (regardless of diet and exercise).

What Can You Do To Minimize Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes?

Steps to minimize your risk of developing type 2 diabetes include: