Optimal Sleep Length Identified to Ward Off Insulin Resistance

FRIDAY, March 6, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Sleeping for seven hours and 18 minutes every night may help ward off the risk for insulin resistance, according to a study published online March 3 in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.

Zhanhong Fan, from the School of Nursing and Rehabilitation at Nantong University in China, and colleagues used data from 23,475 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2009 to 2023) to examine the association between weekday sleep duration and estimated glucose disposal rate (eGDR), along with the moderating role of weekend catch-up sleep (WCS). 

The researchers identified an inverted U-shaped relationship between weekday sleep duration and eGDR, with an inflection point at 7.32 hours. Below this threshold, increased sleep improved eGDR (β = 0.273), but exceeding the threshold was inversely associated with eGDR (β = −0.222). For those with <7.32 hours of weekday sleep, one to two hours of WCS was associated with increased eGDR (β = 0.296) versus no WCS. However, more than two hours of WCS negatively moderated the relationship between weekday sleep and eGDR (β = −0.568).

“There appears to be a bidirectional relationship between sleep and metabolism,” the authors write. “This creates a potential vicious cycle wherein metabolic dysregulation disrupts normal sleep patterns, and the resultant abnormal sleep (including extended duration) further aggravates metabolic health.”

Abstract/Full Text