[HeidiParticipant]

Thanks for your reply Jacob. I agree with you that the source of saturated fat matters. I appreciate the study you mentioned regarding saturated fat and central body obesity. In many cases it seems you need to pick your poison. The studies I’ve seen seem to go back and forth and generally conclude that “more research” needs to be conducted to make absolute conclusions. For example, one study conducted in 1999 suggested that differentiating between stearic acid and other saturated fats was most likely unnecessary since a typical diet contained a pretty equal mix of all types of saturated fat (1).

1. Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Manson JE, et al. Dietary saturated fats and their food sources in relation to the risk of coronary heart disease in women. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999. 70(6): 1001-8.

[HeidiParticipant]

There is definitely a good amount of research concerning this subject. Sleep has five stages. During the deeper stages (also called slow-wave sleep) of sleep, the body restores itself and the brain uses less glucose and thus glucose metabolism is slower. The body then speeds up metabolism during the second part of the night. This being said, any shortening or alterations in sleep could plausibly have an effect on insulin resistance (1). For example, sleep fragmentation, such as that experienced in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can ultimately put the body in an inflammatory state. Inflammation is correlated with diabetes. In short, OSA increases sympathetic activity which increases gluconeogenesis and the breakdown of glycogen (2). Multiple studies have also shown an increase in diabetic incidence with either short or prolonged amounts of sleep (3,4). Thus too much or too little sleep can prove to be a risk factor. These correlations were seen even after controlling for hypertension, smoking, and waist circumference.

1. Touma C, Pannain S. Does lack of sleep cause diabetes? Clev Clinic Journ of Med. 2011. 78(8):549-558.
2. Zizi F, Jean-Louis G, Brown C, et al. Sleep duration and the risk of diabetes mellitus: epidemiologic evidence and pathophysiologic insights. Current Diabetes Report. 2010. 10(1): 43-47.
3. Yaggi HK, Araujo AB, McKinlay JB. Sleep duration as a risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes.Diabetes Care. 2006. 29(3): 657-661.
4. Quan SF, Howard BV, Iber C, et al. The sleep heart health study: design, rationale, and methods. Sleep. 1997. 20(12):1077-85.

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