Pulling some late nights studying? Working for the weekend party?
Shifting your sleep-wake schedules by a few hours can put you at risk for not only changes in your waistline, but increased risk of metabolic diseases.
In a study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology, researchers found that adults aged 30-54 with “socially jetlagged” lifestyles had higher triglyceride levels, insulin resistance, and fat cells than those with consistently regular sleep-wake schedules (1). These markers are linked to risks of heart disease, diabetes, and metabolic disease.
We already know that sleep debt and shift-work are both linked to negative impacts on health (2, 3), but now we know even occasional small shifts in our sleep schedule can have an influence on our overall health as well. Perhaps there’s more to minding our circadian rhythms to optimizing our health!
Looking for naturopathic ways to optimize your sleep and circadian cycles? Visit the Contact and Book page for more on how we can work together to turn snoozing and losing to snoozing and winning.
Stay tuned for an article on how lights are affecting your sleep
See the study here: http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jc.2015-2923
References:
(1) Wong PM, Hasler BP, Kamarck TW, Muldoon MF, Manuck SB. Social jetlag, chronotype, and cardiometabolic risk. J Clin Endocrin Met. 18 Nov 2015.
(2) Spiegel K, Leproult R, Van Cauter E. Impact of sleep debt on metabolic and endocrine function. Lancet. 23 Oct 1999.
(3) Knutsson A. Health disorders of shift workers. Occup Med. 1 Feb 2003.