DrMirkin's eZine: Lights while sleeping, fiber to lower dementia risk, more . . .
Published: Thu, 03/24/22
March 27, 2022
Sleeping with the lights on or a television set on for just one night raises blood sugar, heart rate and insulin resistance, all risk factors for diabetes (PNAS, March 14, 2022;119(12):e2113290119). Five to ten percent of the light can actually get through a closed eyelid.
Your heart rate is supposed to go down when you sleep at night. When it regularly doesn't go down, you are at increased risk for heart disease and death (Int Heart J, Mar 28, 2020;61(2):289-294). An elevated nightly blood sugar, called the "dawn phenomenon," increases risk for heart disease and diabetes (PLoS Biology, July 24, 2018). Not getting enough sleep each night also raises nightly sleeping blood sugar (Nutr Diabetes, 2017 May 8;7(5):e266) and sleeping heart rate (J Am Coll Cardiol, Sept 10, 2019;74(10):1304-1314). Not getting at least six hours of sleep each night is associated with weight gain and obesity, inflammation, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and increased death rate (Curr Cardiol Rev, Feb 2010;6(1):54-61; Curr Opin Cardiol, 2016 Sep; 31(5): 551-565).
Other studies show that sleeping with the lights on increases risk for decreased glucose tolerance and decreased insulin sensitivity (Endocr Rev, 2014;35:648-670; Swiss Med Wkly, 2020;150:w20273). The greater the exposure to light during sleep, the more likely a person is to become diabetic (Sleep Med, 2020;65:1-3).
Why High Blood Sugar During Sleep Increases Risk for Diabetes and Heart Disease
High blood sugar during the day or night increases diabetes risk. When your blood sugar rises, your pancreas releases insulin which lowers blood sugar by driving sugar from the bloodstream into your liver. Your liver quickly fill up with a small amount of sugar and then all the extra sugar is converted to a type of fat called triglycerides. Then your good HDL cholesterol lowers high blood triglyceride levels by carrying the fatty triglyceride molecules into your liver. As your liver
starts to fill up with fat, it loses its ability to respond to insulin and accept sugar from the bloodstream and eventually you become insulin resistant and diabetic.
The "dawn phenomenon" is an early-morning increase in blood sugar that can occur naturally between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. As your body prepares to wake up from deep sleep, it releases increased amounts of growth hormone, cortisol, glucagon and epinephrine which cause your blood sugar to rise and provide extra energy to help you wake up. Both bright lights and not getting enough sleep at night increase levels of these hormones to raise blood sugar.
My Recommndations
Sleeping with the lights on and not getting enough sleep are risk factors for diabetes. If you find it difficult to sleep at night, make sure you close your blinds and curtains, and turn off all the lights, your computer and your television set. Other risk factors for diabetes include:
• having a fasting blood sugar greater than 100 mg/dL blood sugar, or a one-hour-after-eating-a-meal blood sugar greater than 145 mg/dL
• having a prominent belly and small buttocks
• being able to pinch more than two inches of fat under the skin next to your belly button
• having a fatty liver (shown in a sonogram)
• having triglycerides greater than 150 mg/dL
• having HDL cholesterol less than 40
See Belly Fat Predicts Fatty Liver and Diabetes
Researchers followed 3700 adults, ages 40 to 64, for up to 20 years and found that those who ate the most fiber were 25 percent less likely to suffer dementia in later life than those who ate the least (Nutritional Science, February 6, 2022). The more fiber a person ate, the less likely they were to develop dementia. Dietary fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, nuts and other seeds.
How Soluble Fiber May Help to Prevent Dementia
You cannot absorb soluble fiber, so it passes through your intestines down to your colon where more than 100 trillion bacteria live. Some bacteria that live in your colon are healthful, while others are harmful. The healthful bacteria break down soluble fiber to form Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs) that are absorbed into your bloodstream to lower high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high insulin levels, and block inflammation, a process that can damage all parts of your body. All of these factors increase risk for dementia. An anti-inflammatory diet that helps to prevent dementia is based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, seeds and nuts (Neurology, Dec 14, 2021; 97 (24)).
The harmful types of bacteria try to invade your colon cells, which turns on your immune system to cause inflammation, increasing your risk for dementia and heart attacks. A pro-inflammatory diet is low in plant fiber and high in red and processed meat, sugar-added foods and fried foods.
An increase in harmful bacteria and decrease in healthful bacteria increases risk for heart attacks and dementia (Hypertens Res, 2019;42(7):1090-1). A study in mice showed that a high soluble-fiber diet decreased inflammation associated with ageing (Front Immunol, 2018;9(1832).
My Recommendations
A diet rich in soluble fiber found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, seeds and nuts and low in red and processed meats, fried foods and sugar added foods is associated with reduced risk for suffering dementia as you age. For more on the many benefits of fiber, see:
Fiber, a True Superfood
Fiber Wins Again
Snack on High Fiber Foods
Scott Hall was a "bad-guy" wrestling superstar who was inducted twice into the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, previously WWF) Hall of Fame:
• in 2014 as Razor Ramon, known for wearing gold chains and flicking a toothpick at opponents
• in 2020 as a member of the "New World Order" with Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan.
In early March 2022, he fell and broke his hip, and lay on the floor for several days before being discovered during a wellness check. It was the same hip that he had replaced in 2013 at age 54. He was hospitalized in Marietta, Georgia and had the broken hip replaced again. After the surgery, he formed blood clots that caused three heart attacks, whiich sent him into heart failure and he was put on life support. On March 14, with his family's consent, he was taken off life support and died at age 63.
Early Years and Rise to Fame in Wrestling
He was born in 1958 in St. Mary's County, Maryland, to alcoholic parents. His father was in the military and they moved every year throughout his childhood. At age 26 he began his career in professional wrestling, and was a frightening opponent because he was huge at 6 feet, 7 inches and 287 pounds. He adopted the ring name of Razor Ramon, and told interviewers, "In my lifetime, I've learned hard work pays off, dreams come true, bad times don't last, but bad guys do." Read more
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