Late to Bed…Doubles Inflammation and Insulin Resistance
I’ve always been a night owl. I don’t think it’s inevitable for me, by any means, but I always tend to stay up later and later.
Lately, however, I’ve really begun to realize just how much I love waking up with the sunrise and going to bed on time. I feel better all day, and most importantly for me, I have a better attitude and perspective during the day.
Plus, there’s new evidence that it’s not just about how much we sleep but about maintaining a consistent sleep cycle.
Does it Matter if You Go to Bed Late?
In the above study, researchers were interested in figuring out whether lack of sleep was the only contributing factor to insulin resistance and inflammation, or whether misalignment of circadian rhythm also mattered.
In other words, they wanted to know if we get sicker when we don’t sleep at nighttime.
The test group was pretty small, but the results were huge. For the people who were forced to sleep during the daytime, their insulin resistance and inflammation doubled compared to the group who just slept too little but did so at night.
Doubling is a big difference, especially when you consider that the group that slept at night was already getting too little sleep and experiencing more insulin sensitivity and inflammation.
Makes me glad I’m going to bed on time tonight…
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