Sleep and type 2 diabetes: how short sleep raises risk

• Short sleep: 28% higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
• Difficulty falling asleep: 57% higher risk; difficulty staying asleep: 84% higher.
• Weekend catch-up sleep did not restore insulin sensitivity.
• Sleep is part of diabetes prevention, alongside exercise and diet.

What the research shows

Meta-analysis. Pooling 10 prospective studies with more than 107,000 people, researchers found that short sleep (5 to 6 hours or less) was linked to a 28% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, long sleep to a 48% higher risk, difficulty falling asleep to 57% and difficulty staying asleep to 84% (Cappuccio et al., 2010).

Catch-up sleep is not enough. In a laboratory study, young adults who slept 5 hours on weeknights and caught up on weekends still had reduced insulin sensitivity (Depner et al., 2019).

Appetite hormones. In a classic experiment, two nights of sleep restriction lowered leptin, the satiety hormone, raised ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and increased hunger, especially for high-carbohydrate foods (Spiegel et al., 2004).

Practical steps

• Aim for 7 or more hours a night on a regular schedule.
• Combine good sleep with regular exercise and a fiber-rich diet.
• If you snore and feel sleepy during the day, ask about sleep apnea testing.