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| Sleepless nights and high fat-diet can both damage insulin sensitivity |
according to
research presented at the Obesity Society Annual
Meeting in Los Angeles, CA .
Sleepless nights and a high-fat diet can both
damage insulin sensitivity.
This demonstrates the importance of a good night's
sleep on health.
Sleep deficiency and a high-fat diet are known to
lead to impaired insulin sensitivity, but it was
previously unknown which leads to more severe
insulin resistance.
Josiane Broussard, PhD, and colleagues from
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA,
used a canine model to examine whether sleep
deprivation and a high-fat diet affect insulin
sensitivity in similar ways.
When the body becomes less sensitive to insulin, in
other words, insulin resistant, it needs to produce
more insulin to keep blood sugar stable.
This may eventually lead to type 2 diabetes, where
the body's insulin response does not work properly
and there is too much sugar in the blood.
Diabetes entails a number of serious complications,
including heart disease. Individuals with obesity are
more likely to develop insulin resistance and
subsequently, diabetes.
The researchers measured insulin sensitivity in
eight male dogs before and after diet-induced
obesity.
One night without sleep compares to 6
months of high- fat diet
First, they deprived the dogs of 1 night's sleep, and
then used an IV glucose tolerance test to measure
insulin sensitivity. They compared the results with
those of dogs that had a normal night's sleep. Then
the dogs were fed a high-fat diet for 6 months,
before being tested again.
One night of sleep deprivation reduced insulin
sensitivity by 33%, whereas 6 months of high-fat
diet, reduced it by 21%. Once the high-fat diet had
caused insulin insensitivity, 1 night of sleep
deprivation did not impair the insulin sensitivity
further.
The study suggests that one night of total sleep
deprivation may be as detrimental to insulin
sensitivity as 6 months on a high-fat diet. It
demonstrates the importance of adequate sleep in
maintaining blood sugar levels and reducing risk for
metabolic diseases like obesity and diabetes.
The findings suggest a similar mechanism by which
both insufficient sleep and a high-fat diet induce
insulin resistance. It also seems that after high-fat
feeding, insulin sensitivity cannot be reduced further
by sleep loss.
Apart from impaired insulin sensitivity, sleep
deprivation can lead to increased food intake and
overall increased risk for metabolic diseases.
Dr. Caroline Apovian, a fellow and spokesperson for
The Obesity Society, says:
Dr. Broussard calls for further research to examine
the pathways that account for the interactions
between sleep and diet and their relationship to
insulin sensitivity, and also to determine whether
insulin sensitivity improves after recovery sleep.
Through understanding the causes and
complications of obesity and identifying the relevant
mechanisms involved, scientists hope to find keys
to its prevention or cure.
Posted by: Philip Ochika