The study investigates how well our daily patterns of rest and activity (like sleeping and being awake) match up with natural light and dark cycles and how this affects our body’s ability to manage sugar levels, which is important for preventing diabetes.
Researchers looked at data from about 7,000 adults aged 20 to 80 from a national health survey that included information about their daily activity and exposure to light over several days. They used a special type of analysis to measure how strongly and closely aligned a person’s activity/rest cycle was with the natural light/dark cycle.
The findings showed that people whose daily patterns were less aligned with the natural light/dark cycle (meaning they might be active at times when it’s usually dark or resting when it’s light) were more likely to have diabetes. Those who had the poorest alignment were over 70% more likely to have diabetes compared to those with the best alignment. This was also true when looking at other signs in the body that tell us about sugar management.
Read the article at Diabetes Journal here.