Having a nap is one of life’s smallest, but greatest, pleasures. Whether it’s a daily occurrence or saved for the weekend, there really is no greater feeling then having some time to yourself, letting your eyelids slowly flutter shut until you’re in the land of nod. But bad news nap lovers, those little quick 40 winks could lead to type 2 diabetes.

But all is not lost on the nap front; the team of experts behind the study found that your risk of the condition was only increased if you had an hour’s nap every day.

Scientists from Japan analysed data from 21 different studies, which encompassed more than 300,000 people. They uncovered a link between day time sleeping and type 2 diabetes, but only in naps more than 60 minutes a day. Naps less than an hour did not produce the same effect, with the team even commenting they could have a positive impact on diabetes.

Results will be presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) meeting in Munich, Germany.

“Longer nap was associated with increased risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome,” the authors stated, adding “Further studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of a short nap.”

The team also point out how important sleep is for a healthy life, but some people don’t get enough of it due to “social life and work life related factors”.

“Some individuals take a nap because they are excessively sleepy during the daytime as a result of a sleep disorder.”

Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, comments that the reason the study may have found the link is because the “risk factors which lead to diabetes also cause napping”.

He adds this can include high sugar levels, and says napping could possibly be an early warning sign of diabetes.

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