We all know that sleep is important for regulating your mood, improving efficiency, and having better days. For people with diabetes, though, sleeping is the secret sauce for helping you control your blood glucose levels and maintaining optimal health. Here’s what you need to know about sleep and diabetes.

Not only does getting too little sleep place people at a greater risk of developing diabetes, but it also makes it harder to control for those who have the disease. It does this by making the body less responsive to insulin.

Unfortunately, insulin resistance isn’t the only problem associated with a lack of sleep that is problematic for people with diabetes. Other problems include:

• Increased hunger the day after.
• Difficulty losing weight.
• Greater cravings for unhealthy carb and sugar-filled foods.
• Decreased immune health.

If you’re struggling to sleep, there are things you can do to improve your quality of sleep and sleep quantity. One of the first things you’ll want to do is consider testing for sleep disorders, like sleep apnea. Beyond that, consider changing your lifestyle to promote better sleep by exercising daily, lowering the temperature in your bedroom to 65 degrees for sleep, and eliminating electronics in the bedroom that become distractions for sleep.

Doing these things can help you improve your sleep and get your blood glucose levels under control.