How Bad Sleep Affects Your Metabolic Health (and What to Do About It)

5 minutes read

We know that sleep is crucial for physical and mental recovery, but it also has a significant relationship with your metabolic health and can help or harm markers of metabolic health such as fasting glucose, insulin resistance, and weight. It also regulates hormones that signal hunger and satiety and supports efficient glucose metabolism.

Sleep and metabolic health 101

When we’re feeling overwhelmed, stressed, burnt out at work, sick, or just plain exhausted, the advice we’re often given is, “You should get some sleep.”

However, this may be easier said than done. The CDC reports that more than 1 in 3 Americans are sleep deprived [1], and it’s estimated that sleep-related issues, like trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, and sleep disorders, affect around 50-70 million Americans [1, 2].

This is problematic because sleep is strongly tied to metabolic health, and over time, poor sleep may contribute to the deterioration of metabolic health.

So how do we fix this?

The link between sleep and metabolic processes

The general recommendation for the amount of sleep you need each night is 7-9 hours, though this may vary between individuals and depends on if you’ve skimped on sleep lately.

The normal sleep state reduces your metabolic rate, or the number of calories you’re burning, by around 15-35%, with your metabolic rate being the lowest during deep sleep [3]. This allows the body to recover and repair cells from the “work” of the day.

Glucose utilization decreases during deep sleep due to the reduced activity of neurons [3]. Between 4-8am, glucose is released from the liver in preparation for your body being active, so glucose levels tend to be higher in the morning [4].

However, when sleep becomes abnormal, whether because of sleep deprivation or an irregular sleep schedule, problems begin to arise.

Metabolic consequences of sleep deprivation

Sleep deprivation is a term for any instance where you don’t sleep for long enough or don’t get enough high-quality sleep due to restlessness, waking up frequently, or not enough deep sleep.

In studies where subjects experienced total sleep deprivation (i.e., they were kept awake for anywhere from 24-120 consecutive hours), they experienced increased fasting glucose, reduced glucose tolerance, and decreased energy metabolism [5]. In the longest sleep deprivation condition, subjects even began to show muscle metabolism that was similar to someone with prediabetes.

In other total sleep deprivation studies, participants saw increased fasting insulin levels and poor insulin response to glucose, indicating insulin resistance [3].

But it’s not just these sleep extremes that affect metabolic health.

Another study looking at just 2 nights of partial sleep deprivation showed a reduction in glucose tolerance and reduced insulin action [6], suggesting that just a few nights of missed sleep can start to affect your metabolic health, and a week of sleep deprivation can begin to have significant impacts on metabolic health.

The evidence is clear: sleep deprivation is linked to key markers of metabolic health. One night of poor sleep may be something you see reflected in your glucose levels the next day.

Metabolic consequences of an irregular sleep schedule

Beyond losing sleep, what about your sleep schedule? Does it matter what time you go to sleep and wake up each day?

New research suggests that it does.

Sleep directly impacts metabolic health, blood glucose, and insulin resistance, but the good news is that the damage done by lost sleep is not irreversible.

In shorter-term sleep debt, about 2 nights of adequate sleep can get you back to baseline. However, chronic sleep deprivation requires more research to understand how recovery works, and will likely take longer than a few nights of recovery sleep to normal metabolic rhythms during sleep.

In the meantime, try to pick a 30-minute (or smaller!) window for your bedtime and wake time that you can stick to in order to maintain or improve your sleep and metabolic health.

Takeaways: improving sleep for metabolic health

Sleep is a major player when it comes to maintaining stable blood glucose, increasing insulin resistance, and improving metabolic health. Of course, other lifestyle habits, like the food we eat and our exercise pattern, are linked with how well (or poorly) we sleep. So how can you improve your sleep to better serve your metabolic health?

Avoid high-carb, highly processed foods close to bedtime, as this can interrupt sleep.
Try to get outside to view sunlight during the day and ideally first thing in the morning. If you get up when it’s dark, you can use a light therapy device to mimic sunlight exposure [8].
Daily exercise can make for better sleep, with some studies suggesting morning exercise might be even better.
Develop a consistent bedtime and wake-up time, and try to stay within an hour of that. Work your way up to just a 15-minute variation window.
Keep your room dark and the temperature cool, around 60-67°F (15-19°C).
Avoid screens close to bedtime.

When you implement new sleep habits, you may find energy levels rising and mental acuity improving. Monitoring your blood glucose with a CGM can also be helpful to see how your sleep patterns affect blood glucose levels and how blood glucose is improved by getting better sleep.

References:

Written by: Emily Johnson, MSc RD

Reviewed by: Dr. Vimal Ramjee, MD, FACC

Table of Contents

Sleep and metabolic health 101
Metabolic consequences of sleep deprivation
Metabolic consequences of an irregular sleep schedule
Takeaways: improving sleep for metabolic health