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Sleep

A good night’s sleep can help you manage your diabetes and your blood glucose levels. Getting enough sleep is great for helping you manage your weight, boosting your energy, and helping you stay active. Let us look closer at how your sleeping habits can affect your diabetes.

What's in this page

Sleep is essential for your good health

Did you know that there is a link between sleep and diabetes management?

If you find it difficult to manage your blood glucose levels, a good night of sleep may be the answer. Having a good night of sleep assists with weight management by helping regulate appetite and making you feel more energised and stay physically active. Inadequate sleep can make blood glucose levels difficult to manage.

Let us look at how your sleeping habits may be impacting your diabetes, and what you can do to get a good night of sleep.

sleep image 1
Why sleep is essential

Let us look at how your sleeping habits may be impacting your diabetes, 
and what you can do to get a good night of sleep.

A good night's sleep can help you manage blood glucose levels.

A regular sleep routine can help you manage your weight.

A good night's sleep can help increase your energy during the day.

A good night's sleep can make it easier for you to make healthy food choices.

Multi-generation family eating together
Sleeping well for better daily health habits

If you sleep poorly you may be more likely to crave foods that cause your blood glucose levels to rise quickly to compensate for lower energy levels.

These types of foods are often high in added sugars, which lead to large spikes in blood glucose levels, and also make it difficult to manage weight.

Tiredness and lack of sleep can also:

  • affect our mood and motivation
  • lead to being less physically active
  • prevent us from making healthy food choices.

Getting a good night’s sleep can help you manage your diabetes and reduce high blood glucose levels in the morning.

Sleeping well for better daily health habits

If you have high blood glucose levels, please talk to your diabetes health professional.

They may suggest:

  • reviewing your medications, including adjusting your basal insulin
  • adjusting your basal insulin profile if you are on an insulin pump.

Tiredness and lack of sleep can also:

Affect our mood and motivation
Cause us to be less physically active
Prevent us from making healthy food choices
Your good night toolkit

Your guide to a better night’s sleep for better diabetes management.

Adults aged between 18-64 years need between 7-9 hours’ sleep a night.

Get to know your eating and sleeping hormones.

Wake up
Cortisol
Helps wake you up but is also released in response to stress
If you are stressed or don’t have enough sleep over long period, it can increase your blood glucose, making it harder to manage your diabetes.
Hunger
Ghrelin
Helps your body know when it is hungry
If you don’t get enough sleep, your body can produce more ghrelin. It can make you eat too much and put on weight. This makes it harder to manage your blood glucose levels.
Fullness
Leptin
Helps your body know when it has enough food
If you don’t have enough sleep, your body produces less leptin. This means your body doesn’t know when you have eaten enough and you can put on weight. This makes it harder to manage your blood glucose levels.
Sleepiness
Melatonin
Helps your body know when it is time to go to sleep, and also helps with your immune system and metabolising glucose
Spending time outdoors during the day, particularly in the morning, can help regulate the circadian rhythm and promote healthy melatonin production. This can be particularly helpful for individuals who have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep due to disruptions in their melatonin cycle.

Cortisol – the ‘wake up’ hormone

Cortisol is a hormone that is released in response to stress and can keep your body awake.

It is natural to get a spurt of cortisol before you wake up to help you get up and going for the day. You may have heard of this referred to as the “dawn phenomenon”.

But if you do not get enough sleep, cortisol can become irregular, and it can make your blood glucose levels higher than usual.

Having high cortisol levels can increase blood glucose levels. This means that if you have high cortisol because of regular nights of poor sleep, it may be more difficult to manage your diabetes due to higher blood glucose levels.

Melatonin - Cortisol Graph

The following strategies are for people who do not have clinical insomnia but would like to improve their sleeping habits. Best of all they are free and easy to start doing tonight.

Shot of a happy family having fun at the beach
Get some sunshine
View sunlight by going outside within 30-60 minutes of waking. Do that again in the late afternoon, prior to sunset. Try to make this a priority if you can as it will have a great effect.
Dad reading bedtime stories to son
Regular bed time
Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. Your brain has its own master 24-hour clock, which expects regularity. Additionally, go to sleep when you first start to feel sleepy.
Temperature
Temperature
Your brain and body need to drop their by temperature (by 1-2 degrees) for you to fall and stay asleep, so the ambient temperature must be cold in your room.
Darkness
Darkness
We need darkness to trigger the release of melatonin. Make your room as dark as possible (i.e. digital clocks face away from your view) and go screen free for at least 30-60 minutes before bed. As a general rule avoid viewing bright lights between 10pm and 4am.
man's best friend
Take a break
If it has been around 25 minutes, and you cannot fall asleep, get out of bed, relax in another room, and come back to bed later. Do not count sheep, it does not work!
A woman standing in her kitchen drinks from a mug.
Limit caffeine intake
Try to abstain from coffee from around noon (or within 8-10 hours of bedtime). Drinking alcohol in the evening reduces your sleep quality (as do sleep medications) and like caffeine, nicotine can affect you falling asleep.

How many hours do you sleep a night?

Less than 7 hours most nights

7–9 hours most nights

More than 9 hours most nights

When you have a bad night’s sleep
Sleeping man disturbed by alarm clock early in the morning

This non-conventional tip might take you by surprise but if you have had a bad night’s sleep, do nothing.

  • Stick to your normal routine — get up and go to bed at the 
same time as usual.
  • Avoid drinking too much caffeine.
  • Try not to nap during the day.

Top 5 sleep secrets

Exercise 
regularly

Exercise 
regularly

Exercise helps your body get ready for sleep, but try to exercise at least 3-4 hours before bedtime.

Shot of a man eating breakfast at the dining table

Eat a balanced 
meal

Eat regular meals throughout the day and avoid large meals before bed. Include carbohydrates (carbs), protein, and healthy fats to help you sleep better.
Limit drinks 
before bed

Limit drinks 
before bed

Try to avoid drinking large amounts of fluids 2-3 hours before bedtime to prevent waking to go to the toilet.
Clear your 
mind

Clear your

mind

Take a few minutes to write down anything that is bothering you or things you need to do tomorrow to clear your mind before bed.
Young sporty woman practicing yoga

Try something new

Use apps like Smiling Mind, Headspace, or Simply Being to help you relax and fall asleep.
Your 10-step sleep countdown
If you have a smart watch or phone, try programming these sleep countdown reminders into your day. These times can be adjusted based on your own schedule, but the key is to create a consistent routine that promotes healthy sleep habits.
Morning

7:00am – Wake up, drink water and get 10 minutes of natural light exposure. Try this again before sunset for at least 10 minutes.

7:30am – Have a balanced breakfast.

8:30am – Go for a walk outside. Exercise helps normalise circadian rhythms, improve insulin sensitivity, and reduce stress.

Afternoon

12:00pm – Have a balanced lunch.

1:00pm – Limit caffeinated drinks late in the day.

2:00pm – Take a break from work and go for a quick walk outside.

Evening

6:00pm – Have a balanced dinner. Try to finish eating at least 3 hours before bedtime.

7:00pm – Start winding down and take a quick walk outside to admire the sunset.

9:00pm – Limit blue light exposure from electronic devices.

10:00pm – Go to bed to avoid hitting the snooze button in the morning. Getting consistent sleep is important for diabetes management.

Young beautiful woman texting surfing the net on the sofa at home

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Diabetes Australia acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this Country. We recognise their connection to land, waters, winds and culture. We pay the upmost respect to them, their cultures and to their Elders, past and present. We are committed to improving health outcomes for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people affected by diabetes and those at risk.
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