“Research shows that sleep deprivation and sleep disorders have significant impacts on both our hormonal and metabolic systems. Poor quality of sleep, whether caused by sleep deprivation or sleep-disordered breathing (like sleep apnea) causes metabolic dysregulation,” Kuzmina tells Strong Women.

She points to a study by the University of Chicago, which showed that sleep deprivation can lead to a 40% reduction in glucose tolerance and a 30% reduction in glucose effectiveness. Insulin response to glucose was also found to be worse.

“This suggests sleep deprivation may not only worsen our metabolic rates and the body’s ability to use food to supply it with energy, but also increase the chance of insulin resistance, known as a pre-diabetic state,” says Kuzmina.

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