Common Habit Spikes Diabetes Risk 41%
There’s no doubt that diet and weight play their part in the development of type 2 diabetes.
But there’s more to avoiding—or even reversing—this disease than cutting out sugar or dropping a few pants sizes.
In fact, a recent study identified a surprising (non-diet) factor that can send your risk of diabetes soaring by 41 percent.
Researchers studied nearly 250,000 people with an average age of 60 to determine the impact dietary AND sleep habits have on the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Not surprisingly, those folks with the healthiest diets had a 25 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared to those with the worst.
However, they also found that, compared to people who got a healthy amount of sleep (7-8 hours per night), those who only slept 5 hours per night had a 16 percent increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
According to the JAMA Open Network study, folks who slept just 3-4 hours had a whopping 41 percent increased risk.
Here’s the kicker… these sleep-deprived people had this increased risk even if they had a healthy diet.
Like I said, there’s more to diabetes than diet and weight alone.
Lack of quality sleep…
- impairs insulin sensitivity,
- shifts energy metabolism,
- and affects the gut microbiome
And all of these factors impact how your body handles blood sugar.
For effective blood sugar control, you have to consider your lifestyle as a whole… and that includes getting a healthy amount of sleep.
P.S. Can’t sleep? Try these insomnia BUSTING tips.
SOURCE:
Nôga DA, Meth EDMES, Pacheco AP, et al. Habitual Short Sleep Duration, Diet, and Development of Type 2 Diabetes in Adults. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(3):e241147. doi: 10. 1001 /jamanetworkopen .2024.1147