Study Finds, Deep Sleep Found To Be Key To Regulating Blood Sugar

Researchers believe that the improved reactivity of the human body to insulin during deep sleep, which improves blood sugar control the next day, is why a lack of quality sleep is thought to raise the risk of diabetes. The researchers from the University of California (UC) Berkeley, US, discovered that a stronger and more frequent linking of deep sleep brain waves, particularly the sleep spindles and slow waves, activated the body’s parasympathetic nervous system after analyzing sleep data from 600 people.

The parasympathetic nervous system is involved with soothing and calming the body through physiological effects such as slowing the heart and dilation of blood vessels. The researchers identified this alteration in the subjects by monitoring their heart rates.

Furthermore, scientists discovered that transitioning to this serene and calm mode increased the body’s susceptibility to insulin, the blood sugar-regulating hormone that urges cells to take up glucose from the bloodstream, thus preventing a harmful blood sugar spike.

Their findings were reported in Cell Reports Medicine. “These synchronized brain waves act like a finger that flicks the first domino to start an associated chain reaction from the brain, down to the heart, and then out to alter the body’s regulation of blood sugar,” explained Matthew Walker, senior author of the study and professor of neuroscience and psychology at UC Berkeley.

Sleep spindle coupling and slow waves of deep sleep have been shown to improve learning and memory. However, this human investigation, which was built on a mouse study from 2021, showed a fresh and previously unknown function of these waves in relation to the important body function of blood sugar management. “This particular coupling of deep-sleep brain waves was more predictive of glucose than an individual’s sleep duration or sleep efficiency,” said Raphael Vallat, co-author of the study and a UC Berkeley postdoctoral associate.

“This suggests that the electrophysiological quality and coordinated ballet of these brain oscillations during deep sleep are unique,” said Vallat. The researchers then examined a separate set of 1,900 people and found the same results. They claimed that because sleep is a controllable lifestyle component, it may be utilized to treat high blood sugar and Type 2 diabetes.