Type 2 diabetes warning: A popular activity is dangerously affecting your blood sugar
Type
2 diabetes is a condition that causes the body to lose control of the
amount of sugar in the blood. The body doesn’t respond to insulin
properly and may not produce enough, causing blood sugar levels to
become too high. If blood sugar levels aren’t controlled properly and
stay too high, a number of problems can occur, including kidney failure,
nerve damage, foot ulcers, heart disease and stroke.
Eating a poor diet can cause sugar levels to rise and increases a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
This
is why it is often recommended that one should eat a well-balanced,
healthy diet including plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Exercise is also a necessity and its advised to aim for at least 150 minutes of physical excursion a week.
One
surprising aspect that has been proven to raise blood sugar is being on
your phone or tablet for an hour at night before sleep.
Exposure
to light in the hours leading up to bedtime, in particular, the light
from the electronic device or television may affect health including
weight and blood sugar levels.
This is according to a study published in Physiology & Behaviour.
What the experts said
Dr
Kathryn Russart a postdoctoral researcher at Ohio State University
Wexner Medical Centre in Columbus said: “Even at levels you may think
are harmless, light exposure at night can trigger a number of health
problems.
“Light at night is an environmental endocrine disrupter.
Our circadian rhythm is geared to 24-hour solar days and we use
environmental cues, such as light, to keep our body clock in sync. “Among
the tasks guided by our circadian clock is to manage a regular hormonal
rhythm in endocrine tissues, which seems to be thrown off by too much
exposure to light at night, making it harder to fall asleep.
“The net result, not enough sleep but that’s not all. More worrisome, is a negative impact on blood glucose levels.
“For
example, we see from the research that light at night can cause weight
gain, without an increase in calories and it can interfere with
metabolic function.
“Our circadian rhythm is also influenced by
the nightly secretion of the hormone melatonin, and light at night
inhibits the production of this sleep-promoting hormone.
“That, in
turn, could affect the hormone leptin,3 otherwise known as the satiety
hormone that signals your brain that you are full, so when this hormone
messaging is thrown off, you gain weight.”
It’s recommended to have as low as five lux of light at night in order for it not to disturb the circadian rhythm.
Putting that into perspective means a TV or a cell pone held about a foot away from the face cam emit up to 40 lux of light.
Whatever the sources of light at night, it’s a potential long-term health hazard.
Dr
Elena Christofides an endocrinologist in private practice in Columbus,
Ohio suggests: “You may use blight light blocking glasses, widely sold
online to help reuse the exposure to the blue light from electronics.
“My
advice is to put the special glasses on around dinner time and keep
them on as long as you are using the computer, smartphone, iPad or
watching TV.”