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The research, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, also shows that chronic sleep deprivation cannot be compensated by healthy eating alone.
”I generally recommend prioritising sleep, although I understand it’s not always possible, especially as a parent of four teenagers,” said Christian Benedict, Associate Professor at Uppsala University and lead researcher behind the study.
The team examined the link between type 2 diabetes and sleep deprivation. Type 2 diabetes affects the body’s ability to process sugar (glucose), hindering insulin absorption and resulting in high blood sugar levels.
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”Previous research has shown that repeated short daily rest increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, while healthy dietary habits such as regularly eating fruit and vegetables can reduce the risk,” said Diana Noga, a sleep researcher at the Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences at Uppsala University.
”However, it has remained unclear whether people who sleep too little can reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by eating healthily,” Noga said in a statement.
The researchers used data from one of the largest population databases in the world, the UK Biobank, in which nearly half a million participants from the UK have been genetically mapped and responded to questions on health and lifestyle.
They followed the participants for over 10 years and found that a sleep duration of between three and five hours was linked to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
In contrast, healthy eating habits led to a lower risk of developing the disease, but even people who ate healthily but slept less than six hours a day were still at higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
”Our results are the first to question whether a healthy diet can compensate for lack of sleep in terms of the risk of type 2 diabetes. They should not cause concern, but instead be seen as a reminder that sleep plays an important role in health,” Benedict added.