The incidence of diabetes in my country’s population is increasing year by year. According to China’s diabetes data in 2020, the prevalence of diabetes in adults in my country has accounted for 12.8% of the total population, with a total of 129.8 million. In other words, 1 out of every 10 people is a diabetic.
Behind the rapidly growing data of diabetic patients, it is actually related to “sleep”! Diabetes may come out of “sleeping”!
Many people may be surprised, why is diabetes related to sleep? Uncle Kang will talk to you about the relationship between diabetes and sleep this time!
01 What is the relationship between diabetes and sleep?
Studies have shown that people who sleep less than 6 hours or more than 8 hours a day have a significantly increased risk of diabetes. That is to say, too little or too much sleep may cause diabetes, and only staying about 7 hours of sleep , In order to minimize the risk of diabetes.
And there are a lot of studies that prove that poor sleep can cause or aggravate the symptoms of diabetes.
First, poor sleep will shorten the time of sleep, causing the body’s sympathetic nerves to always be in a state of excitement, thereby increasing the release of adrenaline, and adrenaline will inhibit the secretion of insulin, so that glycogen stored in the liver is broken down into glucose and released into the blood. Causes blood sugar concentration to rise. In addition, sympathetic nerve activity can also cause changes in heart rate, faster breathing, and increased blood pressure.
Second, poor sleep may affect the circadian rhythm of hormone secretion in the body. For example, if you don’t sleep well at night, the concentration of cortisol hormone will increase. When the concentration of cortisol hormone increases, blood sugar will increase, and it will also aggravate morning symptoms. Insulin resistance.
Third, poor sleep can also affect appetite, increase appetite and eat more. If coupled with the lack of exercise during the day, lethargy, tiredness, etc., it is easy to cause obesity and increase insulin resistance.
In addition to the above three points, poor sleep habits can also greatly increase the risk of diabetes. Improper sleep is one of the important reasons for the outbreak of diabetes. What are the specific bad sleep habits?
02 4 “sleeping methods” that may cause diabetes
·Sleep in, skip breakfast
Nowadays, many people like to sleep in late on weekends. For the average person, taking a nap once in a while does not have much effect, but for people with high blood sugar, it may cause blood sugar fluctuations and aggravate the disease.
If you skip breakfast in the morning and eat a lot at noon, your body consumes a lot of sugar and fat in a short period of time, which can easily cause your blood sugar to rise after a meal. Therefore, if your blood sugar is already on the high side and you have the habit of sleeping late, you should get rid of it as soon as possible.
· Often stay up late and don’t get enough sleep
Sleeping late is not enough, and staying up late is not even feasible! According to related studies, if the daily sleep time is less than 6 hours, the risk of diabetes will be twice as high as normal sleep (7-8 hours). When staying up late, the amount of insulin secreted by the pancreas will decrease, or it will be less sensitive to insulin, which can easily lead to diabetes. If a person with diabetes suffers from insufficient sleep, it will cause the body to produce a stress response, which will lead to an increase in blood sugar, and may also cause diseases such as high blood pressure.
·Long nap
Those with high blood sugar who take a nap for more than 1 hour a day are likely to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. Taking a long nap will increase the number of night awakenings and shorten the time of night sleep, which will lead to increased insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. In addition, a long nap will reduce exercise volume and energy consumption, leading to obesity.
·Turn on the light to sleep
A related study in the United States tested 20 adults aged 18-40:
Group 1: Participants sleep in a completely dark room for 2 nights;
Group 2: Participants sleep in a dark room on the first night, and sleep in a lighted room on the second night;
In addition, all participants slept for 8 hours a night and observed their blood glucose levels, muscle activity and heart rhythm. In the end, it was found that the participants who slept for one night in a lighted room had significantly higher levels of insulin resistance.
It can be seen that turning on the lights to sleep will affect the secretion of insulin, and then inhibit the secretion of insulin. In the long run, it will also cause the blood sugar to rise and affect the blood vessels.
03 How to “sleep” for healthy blood sugar
Now that we know that sleep and diabetes are closely related, how can we change our bad sleep habits?
·Don’t care about the length of sleep
Sleep duration varies from person to person. People of different ages have different requirements for sleep duration. The younger the person, the greater the need for sleep quality. The older the person, the less the need for sleep.
·relax
Avoid stressful mental activities and stimulating work and activities before going to bed, and appropriate relaxation activities, such as taking a hot bath and listening to lyrical music, have a great effect on promoting sleep.
·Good sleeping environment
Dim the room light to isolate the outdoor light; if the outdoor noise is too loud, find ways to reduce the noise, such as closing the room door and wearing earplugs.
·Pay attention to eating habits
Too hungry or full before going to bed will affect sleep, avoid drinking a lot of alcoholic beverages, because although alcohol can promote falling asleep, but it will reduce the quality of sleep, easy to wake up in the middle of the night. In addition, coffee, tea, cola, etc. will have an exciting effect on the brain nerves, so you should not drink it during sleep.
Therefore, the quality of sleep seriously affects the changes in blood sugar. Ensuring adequate sleep and quality of sleep are very important for the prevention and treatment of diabetes.
What other tips do you have to promote sleep? You can tell Uncle Kang in the comment section!
