diabetes supplement
Psychosocial

The Best Trick to Get Enough Sleep for Diabetes Health

Did you really believe that you need to get 7 or 8 hours of sleep every night to for your diabetes health? Most sleep researchers will tell you that. I even parroted their views in my previous article,“How Much Sleep Is Right for You?” But they’re wrong.

When we are wise enough, however, we can trick our body into believing that it has enough rest. In fact, a new study proves that this trick works.

The problem is that most of the experts fail to take into account the multiplier effect of an afternoon nap. But now some them have seen the light. The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism a few days ago published their new study online ahead of print.

“Our data suggests a 30-minute nap can reverse the hormonal impact of a night of poor sleep,” says the lead author, Brice Faraut, of the Universite Paris Descartes-Sorbonne Paris Cite in France. His research convinces him that napping is a way to counter the damaging effects of sleep restriction. It helps our “immune and neuroendocrine systems to recover.”

Too little sleep linked to diabetes

Our lack of sleep can increase the risk of diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and depression, the Endocrine Society writes. Too little sleep also means that we are less productive at work and have more accidents, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, calling it “a public health epidemic.”

The abstract of Professor Faraut’s study, “Napping Reverses the Salivary Interleukin-6 and Urinary Norepinephrine Changes Induced by Sleep Restriction,” is online. At my request the Endocrine Society sent me the full-text.

The study was a small one of 11 healthy young men, and it seriously limited their sleep to just two hours a night. The results might seem a bit technical, but the next day these men had a 2.5-fold increase in their norepinephrine, which is a stress hormone that increases heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar. Their levels of the protein called interleukin-6, which fights viruses, had also dropped.

But when they were allowed to nap, their levels of this stress hormone and their virus-fighting protein returned to normal.

Just get a two-hour or 30-minute nap

On another night, sleep was limited to two hours again. However, the next day they were allowed to take two 30-minute naps. After napping, the men’s norepinephrine and interleukin-6 levels were normal.

The authors of the new study concluded that a 30-minute nap “is critical for recovery from stress and immune alterations” and could have a “long-term effect on cardiovascular health.” The call napping a “countermeasure” against sleep that is too short.

My experience with napping when I haven’t been able to get a good night’s sleep doesn’t tell me about my levels of these hormones and proteins. But I know how quickly a nap helps me recover mental clarity and a good mood.

A couple of weeks ago I had one of the worst night’s sleep of my whole life. Tossing and turning for hours, I got to sleep only about 4 a.m. And then I had to get up at 6 a.m. for a meeting. While I survived the meeting, by mid-afternoon I was exhausted. A few minutes of sleep, however, completely refreshed me.

Fortunately, I work at home that has a bed handy. If your employer isn’t one of the up-to-date ones and doesn’t have a place for you to rest when you need it, you might suggest a napping room.

This article is based on an earlier version of my article published by HealthCentral.

Never Miss An Update

Subscribe to my free newsletter “Diabetes Update”

I send out my newsletter on first of every month. It covers new articles and columns that I have written and important developments in diabetes generally that you may have missed.

Previous Post Next Post

You Might Also Like These Articles

  • Type 1 Diabetes and Insulin at

    Is it better take diabetes pill and insulin? I got type 1.

    • David Mendosa at

      People who have type 1 diabetes have to use insulin.

  • JoAnn at

    I have diabetes due to pancreatic surgery ( turned out to be a benign tumor) which caused diabetes and pancreatic insufficiency. I am on insulin and pancreatic enzymes for the malabsortion that resulted. However, I also have post-polio syndrome and I hit the wall almost everyday with unbelievable fatigue and brain fog. So I often take a 30 min. nap and wake up totally refreshed. I thought it was just the PPS, but this throws a different light on that nap. Very interesting. (BTW I set a timer for the nap or I might sleep all afternoon)

    • David Mendosa at

      Dear JoAnn,

      Setting the timer is a good idea for all of us.

      Best regards,
      David

  • Lynne at

    Thanx for bringing this to light. I am a firm believer even in ten minute naps!!!

  • KC at

    As a CPAP user, if I forget to use it during an afternoon nap, I feel worse after.

  • Jane at

    I have seldom had the opportunity to nap on a day when I’d gotten less than 7 hours sleep. My job wouldn’t accommodate a nap, but to those that can, this is good information.