A new Dutch-led research study of almost 800 men and women examined the link between sleep and diabetes, according to the Mirror.
Volunteers were told to wear a device that tracked their sleep and underwent tests to show how well their body was able to use insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar and prevents the development of diabetes.
With Type 2 diabetes the body doesn’t make enough insulin – or struggles to use the insulin that is made, so blood sugar levels soar.
The volunteers slept for an average of seven hours and 18 minutes. But when the women slept longer than this, their bodies became better at using insulin.
And the longer they slept, the more responsive they were to the hormone, eliminating their risk of diabetes.
Women win both ways because lack of sleep is also linked to their better use of insulin. It’s a completely different story for men, in fact, the very opposite.
Sleeping for more than an average time significantly cut their ability to use insulin, making them more susceptible to diabetes.
