Lack of sleep hours affects the state of intestinal flora
Sleeping badly, and not meeting a proper sleep schedule is noticeable in many aspects of health. Less performance in the day, worse mood during the day, tiredness and even an altered intestinal flora. This is indicated by a study published in the magazine Molecular Metabolism and carried out by members of the Neuroscience Department of the University of Upssala, in Sweden.
According to this work, sleeping less than recommended hours has effects on the intestinal flora that makes these people more likely to develop problems such as type 2 diabetes and overweight.
Less sleep, alteration of the bacterial flora
Based on the hypothesis that fewer hours of sleep causes the bacteria present in the intestinal flora to be altered. Sleeping little could make the abundance of these species is not the same in all cases, which would lead to problems in the metabolism that could seriously affect people who do not have a correct time in bed.
To this end, those responsible for this investigation were a group of nine people, all of them adults and healthy, who underwent split tests on two nights where they were partially deprived of sleep, sleeping a total of four hours (from 02 : 45 in the morning to 07:00) and two others in which they stayed in bed for eight hours recommended by specialists in this area
In order to know how the lack of sleep affected the intestinal flora, those responsible for the research collected faecal samples in the 24 hours prior to the beginning of the sleep deprivation nights and also in the aftermath of the realization of these alterations in the schedules of the participants. This type of tests were also collected in the days where the rest amounted to 8 hours.
Finally, the participants of this study were also subjected to glucose tolerance tests to know to what extent diabetes could affect patients who slept less than the hours due. In short, collect data on how the lack of sleep was able to alter the metabolism of people.
Changes similar to those of obesity due to lack of sleep
The results showed that those patients who were deprived of sleep showed changes in their intestinal flora similar to those that had the body of obese people compared to healthy people. An example was the greater presence of Firmicutes bacteria that surpassed the Bacteroidetes, a fact that according to other studies is associated with the presence of obesity.
On the other hand, patients subjected to this sleep restriction showed 20% less sensitivity to insulin, which increased the possibility of suffering type 2 diabetes more. Although it should be clarified that no direct relationship was found between the alteration of the intestinal flora and this issue.
How the lack of prolonged sleep affects
The researchers suggest taking these data with moderation given the short-term nature of this study. According to these professionals, it remains to be seen how the lack of prolonged sleep over the years affects the intestinal flora of people and if indeed people who do not get enough sleep, end up having problems such as overweight and obesity.
Something that especially has to be taken into account with children and adolescents, who in order to comply with school and institute schedules must get up early. Therefore, it is especially important to ensure that they get enough sleep so that getting up early does not lead to any major health problems such as those reflected in this study.
Tips for better sleep hygiene
- No copious meals during dinner to avoid long digestions.
- Avoid exciting and sugary drinks as much as possible, especially in hours close to going to sleep.
- Better a quiet talk on the couch or read a book to see a movie that activates the body before going to bed.
- The bed is for sleeping, You should not chat with your mobile or play video games lying down.
- Fulfill routines as much as possible, try to get up more or less at the same time even on weekends and not take advantage of these days to sleep more than necessary.
Damián Montero
