Sugar Awareness Week: How Sugar Can Affect Sleep

Posted on - 18th January 2021

January 18th to 24th should have been the UK's national sugar awareness week, as promoted by Action Sugar.

January 18th to 24th should have been the UK's national sugar awareness week, as promoted by Action Sugar. However, due to the ongoing pandemic, they have chosen to delay this until later in the year.

Here at Dial-A-Mattress, we would still like to take this opportunity to make our customers aware of the impact that sugar can have on the ability to get a good night's sleep.

How does sugar affect sleep?

There are a number of ways that sugar can affect our sleep here are just a few:

• Reduces sleep quality - Increased levels of sugar can mean that our sleep is restless and broken, reducing the time spent in a deep sleep.
• Takes longer to fall to sleep - While you may not feel that sugar is keeping you awake, the amount in your system can leave you struggling to drift off for longer than usual
• Stimulates appetite and cravings - this means that you might find yourself eating more right before bed, which can be as unhealthy as having a mug of strong coffee right before bed.
• Creates an unhealthy gut - For those nights where we are able to get to sleep, we can be awoken by a bad gut, this can be caused by consuming too much sugar.

Reducing Sugar

Reducing the sugar in your diet can help to improve the above sleep issues, and even other issues that you might not associate with poor sleep. This includes carrying a little extra weight, which can cause its own collection of sleep-related issues, including sleep apnea.

Many of us may not realise the amount of sugar that we have in our diet, from the 1 teaspoon in our morning coffee (plus every other one through the day), the sugar in the foods we eat, especially those sneaky takeaways, and the other drinks we consume.

Removing the sugar we add ourselves is the first step in reduction, followed by noting how much sugar is in a range of things we consume throughout the day. By taking note of how much sugar is in things, we can start to make conscious choices in reducing this, and making healthier choices.

Always remember that there is still good, healthy, sugar in a range of fruits that can help you to intake the sugar you need. The recommended maximum intake of sugar, for an adult in the UK, is 30g. As this is a maximum, you do not need to consume this level on a daily basis.

For more information on sugar awareness week, please visit the Action Sugar website. For more information on improving your sleep, head over to our blogs. For a great night's sleep, check out our great range of mattresses, delivered right to your door.