INSULIN RESISTANCE CAN CAUSE SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Sleep is very important for our health. Unfortunately, many of us don’t get enough. Today’s busy lifestyles along with a variety of other reasons is making sleep deprivation a real issue. The are many misconceptions when it comes to sleep. One misconception is that sleep is more important for children than adults. Another one is that people believe that functioning on less hours of sleep makes them stronger. However, this is not the case. It is important that you are aware of just how important sleep is for your physical and mental wellbeing.

Why we need sleep

Do you remember when you were young and your parents used to tell you that you need to sleep if you want to grow up big and strong? Well, that wasn’t something that they just told you to make you go to bed, it’s true! However, what we don’t get told is that sleep is necessary if you want to stay big and strong. There have been studies that have had some interesting results when it comes to your quality of sleep and how sleep or lack of it can affect our health.

The studies found that your quality of sleep can improve a lot if your nearby electronic devices are turned off at least one hour before bed. Electronics can affect your quality of sleep by disrupting the melatonin surge needed to fall asleep.

Sleep can also help you to burn fat, it helps to regulate food intake, glucose use, energy supply and it also boosts memory, cognition, and immunity.

What does sleep deprivation do to you?

So, what does it do to your body when you aren’t getting enough sleep? Firstly, it can cause your body to become resistant to insulin, leptin and ghrelin. If this happens you can be sure that many health issues will follow, including diabetes. It also triggers the body to burn muscle, which is not good. Sleep deprivation can disrupt your thyroid and stress hormone production, compromise your brain health, heart health, and immune response and it can double or even triple tumour growth (this has been proven in laboratory animals) Every night that you are losing sleep you are increasing these negative effects to grow. These then start to raise your risk of harmful health problems including brain disease, heart disease, type II diabetes, obesity, cancer, and even premature death.

What to do about sleep deprivation

There are many things that can help you get a good night’s sleep including getting direct sunlight every day for about 30 minutes, avoiding devices at least 1 hour before bed and keeping your bedroom dark and cool.

So, if you are someone who doesn’t prioritise sleep, we strongly recommend that you rethink it. The first step is to identify the reason you are not getting a good night’s sleep and then work on improving your sleep little by little. We can help you with identifying the reasons and to improve your sleep quality. Give us a call today.

So, if you are someone who doesn’t prioritise sleep, we strongly recommend that you rethink it. The first step is to identify the reason you are not getting a good night’s sleep and then work on improving your sleep little by little. We can help you with identifying the reasons and to improve your sleep quality. Give us a call today.

Pre Diabetic? – No, we can help you overcome that despite test results

Some people may find that they have higher than usual blood sugar levels. Typically, we associate this as being diabetes. However, for some people they don’t meet the threshold for a diabetes diagnosis. This is called pre-diabetes. This condition often has no symptoms but is still serious. Pre-diabetes means you are at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, heart attacks and strokes. Many people don’t know they have pre-diabetes as there are normally no symptoms.

Risk factors for pre-diabetes

Some of the factors that put you at risk for developing pre-diabetes include:

·         If you have had gestational diabetes or gave birth to a baby weighing over 4.08 kilo

·         If you are overweight

·         If you have a parent or sibling with Type 2 diabetes

·         If you are over 45

·         If you are not very physically active

If this is you, and you think you may have pre-diabetes you should get it checked.

Ways to help manage pre-diabetes

Once you have found that you have pre-diabetes then you need to look at changing some of your lifestyle habits. If you don’t do anything then there is a high chance it will develop into Type 2 Diabetes. Then you will also possibly get other bad health problems. There is an increased risk of kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage and limb amputation.

If you want to manage your pre-diabetic state you need a healthy, active lifestyle. Curcumin is one preventative for Type 2 diabetes. So, this is a great herb to add into your diet on a daily basis.

Curcumin helps the functioning of beta cells. These are found in the pancreas. They synthesise and secrete insulin. It can also regulate and moderate molecules and improve pancreatic glucose and insulin responses.

Vitamin D also has many health benefits. It makes for strong bones, muscles and nerves. Vitamin D helps your immune system fight bacteria and viruses. Boosting vitamin D levels can help control glucose levels.

CoQ10 is an antioxidant enzyme decreases in your body as you age. It keeps your heart healthy, assists your brain to function, lowers inflammation and lowers insulin resistance. It is found in meat, fish and nuts.

Exercise is one of the healthiest ways to maintain your whole body. A half hour fast walk a few times a week will bring you great health benefits especially in lowering your risk of Type 2 diabetes. If you reduce your physical activity you increase insulin resistance. So the level of exertion in the exercise you do is important. A combination of walking and yoga is great to have a good mix of faster and slower paced exercises to manage your glucose levels.

If you are having issues with your glucose levels give us a call as we can assist with the right healthy eating program for you balanced with exercise, weight reduction, deeper sleep and less stress.