Prevent Diabetes with a Good Night’s Sleep

Diabetes is an epidemic in this nation. About 23 million adults live with type 2 diabetes… that’s ten percent of the adult population. As you get older, the chances of developing the disease grow. Nearly a quarter of people 65 and older have type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is bad news. It dramatically increases your risk of heart disease. It can destroy your vision, damage your nerves, and make your life otherwise miserable.

That being said, any steps you can take to protect yourself from diabetes are worth considering—especially if they offer other health benefits and are easy to do.

New research shows that when you don’t get enough sleep, you inhibit your body’s ability to manage glucose. People who regularly get less than six hours of sleep tend to have higher fasting glucose levels… a sign that diabetes may be developing.

Getting enough sleep is important for so many reasons. Good sleep helps you cope with stress, it improves your immune system, it helps you maintain a healthy weight, and it will put you in a better mood and make you more productive.

Add that to the benefit of protecting yourself from a devastating condition like diabetes and it’s hard to argue with the wisdom of good night’s sleep.

If you have trouble sleeping, try putting a “going-to-bed” routine in place. Taking the same steps each night before bed can put your brain and body in sleep mode and that will make it easier for you to rest.

You can also try taking valerian root (I like teas with valerian root before bed) or melatonin to help. Melatonin is a hormone, so don’t take it for more than a couple of weeks at a time. You can use it to help get your going-to-bed routine in place and then phase it out.

Good sleep provides so many benefits. It’s well worth your time to improve the quality of your sleep.

Stay well,
Meghan Krohn