Diabetic Digest - March 4, 2015

Readers:

Hopefully this story won't cause you to lose any sleep. A new study links lack of sleep to diabetes, as well as a number of other physical and psychological ailments.

I have the toughest time with sleep. Whether it's stress, or illness, or my wife snoring up a storm I end up tossing and turning for most of the night. The study in the story has nothing to do with my nighttime troubles, but I just had to vent. Don't pass up this article.

Then, be sure to take advantage of the recipe for the delicious Raspberry Thumbprints I have included in today's issue. Trust me, they're amazing!

Regards,
Steve

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Comments? Questions? Email Steve


*-- Diabetic News --*
New study links lack of sleep and diabetes
By BROOKS HAYS

CHICAGO (UPI) - Doctors are fingering a lack of sleep as at least partially responsible for a growing number of physical and psychological ailments. Diabetes is one of those ailments.

In a new study, researchers show how a lack of sleep can encourage pre-diabetic conditions in otherwise healthy young men. Specifically, researchers found that a persistent lack of sleep promoted increased fatty acid levels in the blood. Heightened fatty acid levels disrupt fat metabolism and disrupts insulin's ability to properly regulate blood sugar -- thus, diabetes.

The levels of fatty acids normally fluctuate throughout the day, but generally follow a pattern of peaking in the evening and receding overnight. But the new study showed a recession of fatty acid levels was mitigated by sleepless nights.

Study participants who got just a little more than four hours of sleep for four consecutive nights had elevated blood levels of fatty acids from about 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. The heightened levels corresponded with an increase in insulin resistance, as measured by an intravenous glucose-tolerance test. The insulin resistance, a hallmark of pre-diabetes, lasted nearly five hours.

The research also pulled the curtain back on the mechanisms encouraging heightened fatty acid levels in the study participants' blood.

"Curtailed sleep produced marked changes in the secretion of growth hormone and levels of noradrenaline -- which can increase circulating fatty acids," lead study author Josiane Broussard, a former graduate student at the University of Chicago, explained in a press release.

"The result was a significant loss of the benefits of insulin," Broussard said. "This crucial hormone was less able to do its job. Insulin action in these healthy young men resembled what we typically see in early stages of diabetes."

Broussard, having earned her PhD since the research was conducted, now works as a researcher at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute in Los Angeles.

The new study was published online this week in the journal Diabetologia.

Previous research has found insomnia to increase the risk of stroke. Sleeplessness has also been linked with systematic inflammation, unstable blood sugar, high blood pressure, and other cardiovascular problems. The National Sleep Foundation recently put out updated recommendations for nightly sleep totals, most notably increasing the amount of sleep advised for teens to eight to ten hours.


*- Diabetic Recipe -*
Raspberry Thumbprints
Servings: 16
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1/4 cup margarine, softened
3 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
cooking spray
3 tablespoons no sugar added raspberry fruit spread

Directions
1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, cream margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add egg white and vanilla. Beat well.
4. Stir in flour in 3 parts, stirring well each time until the flour is well-incorporated.
5. Using your hands, form dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
6. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet that has been lightly coated with cooking pray.
7. Using your thumb, press a hole in the center of each cookie.
8. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden. Cool completely on wire racks.
9. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of the raspberry fruit spread into center of each cookie.

Nutrition Information
Per 1-cookie serving: 85 calories (31% calories from fat), 1 g protein, 3 g fat, trace dietary fiber, 0 cholesterol, 43 mg sodium
Diabetic exchanges: 1 carbohydrate (bread/starch)

Original Recipe: Raspberry Thumbprints

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