Scientists have determined the exact amount of sleep you need to keep a common chronic illness at bay.
No matter whether you find it hard to drift off or can doze almost anywhere, sleep can become a real worry — particularly for people who keep waking up at 3am for no obvious reason.
The reassuring part is that you may not need as much sleep as you think to help lower your likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes.
The CDC says more than 40 million Americans are living with diabetes — roughly one in eight people.
As many as 95 percent have type 2 diabetes, which the NHS explains happens when the hormone insulin doesn’t work properly, leading to blood sugar levels becoming too high.
However, a new study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) journal Open Diabetes Research and Care reports that the sleep “sweet spot” for supporting blood sugar regulation is seven hours, 19 minutes and 12 seconds.
For the research, scientists analyzed data from 23,475 Americans, comparing tracked sleep patterns with estimated glucose disposal rate (eDGR) — a marker used to indicate levels of insulin resistance.
Researchers calculated eGDR using waist circumference, fasting blood glucose, and blood pressure measurements.
The findings suggested that sleeping either more or less than the identified “optimal” amount was associated with worse results on those metabolic measures.
Speaking to The Independent: about why this may happen, Naveed Sattar, professor of cardiometabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, said: “Poor sleep often leads to poorer appetite control so people tend to eat more, and less sleep means more time awake to be able to eat.”
The study also raised questions about weekend lie-ins. The BMJ notes that for people already getting the optimal amount of sleep, sleeping in on weekends was linked to ‘impaired glucose metabolism.’
On the other hand, for people who slept less than seven hours, 19 minutes and 12 seconds during the week, additional weekend sleep appeared to be associated with improved glucose-related outcomes.
As the scientists explained: “‘[Extra sleep is] beneficial only in moderation and specifically for those with weekday sleep debt, whereas it may be detrimental for those who already sleep sufficiently.’
They also warned that sleep and metabolism can influence each other in both directions: “Importantly, there appears to be a bidirectional relationship between sleep and metabolism. For instance, poor glycemic status itself has been linked to a higher likelihood of both short and extended sleep durations, as well as sleep disorders.”
That interplay may create a ‘potential vicious cycle’ in which metabolic disruption affects healthy sleep, and ‘the resultant abnormal sleep (including extended duration) further aggravates metabolic health.’
The authors emphasized a key limitation: because the research was ‘observational,’ it can’t prove what causes what.
Still, they concluded: “These correlational findings suggest that sleep patterns, particularly weekend recovery sleep, may be relevant for metabolic regulation in diabetes and could inform considerations for healthcare professionals in managing patient care.”