If you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and want to reverse it naturally, you’re probably thinking weight loss, diet, and exercises.
But there is another completely different factor that may be even more important than diet and exercising. One that nobody talks about except a new study published in BMC Medicine.
The research was part of the Malmö Diet and Cancer (MDC) study, which is a long-term investigation based in Sweden. Participants were men and women aged 45-73, enrolled between 1991 and 1996.
Those included in this specific study were part of a subgroup with no pre-existing diabetes or heart disease. They were carefully monitored for 21–22 years.
To understand the connection between sleep duration and disease risk, researchers measured 78 different proteins in their blood, which reflect various biological processes such as inflammation and cell health. They also asked the participants detailed questions about their sleep patterns on weekdays and weekends.
The researchers then used advanced statistical models to see how these proteins, influenced by sleep duration, could predict the onset of diabetes and heart disease.
This is what they found:
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1. Sixteen specific proteins were significantly linked to sleep durations longer and shorter than 7.1–8 hours. These proteins are involved in body processes like inflammation and cell health and death.
2. Compared with those who slept 7.1–8 hours, those who slept more or less were more likely to develop diabetes. Those with the shortest sleep were especially strongly at risk.
3. The shortest sleep durations were also linked to a higher risk of coronary heart disease, but this association was weaker when the protein data was filtered into the calculation.
This means that 7.1–8 hours is the ideal sleep duration if you want to avoid diabetes and coronary heart disease. The main finding is that sleeping 4–7 hours per night is hugely destructive to your health.