Life Time

Using such a device, blood glucose values for a healthy individual are under 6mmol/l before eating and below 7.8mmol/l two hours after a meal; an individual who has glucose intolerance will have glucose values between 6.0 and 7.0 mmol/l before a meal and between 7.9 and 11.0mmol/l two hours after it; and an individual with Type 2 diabetes will have

It really is worth trying to keep a record of your sleep as many of us underestimate our sleep and think it is worse than it actually is.

Interestingly, dark chocolate may stimulate endocannabinoid activity.

In the absence of natural light, morning light exposure using a light box has also been shown to be helpful for circadian timing problems.

Avoid topics like personal finance or sad topics in the news. You could ask your partner about the best thing that happened to them during the day, or tell them something funny you have read or been told, or mention something that your partner did that you enjoyed or appreciated.

For most of us, exercise in some form can help sleep/wake timing and reduce insomnia, particularly if it is outside under natural light in the morning.

This has very important consequences, not least for those of us who eat most of our daily calories in the evening. For clarity, I define evening loosely as between 6 p.m. and bedtime. Evening eaters are at a greatly increased risk of impaired glucose tolerance, Type 2 diabetes, weight gain and obesity.

A relaxing behaviour, such as a bath or shower, or warming the hands and feet,308 can be very useful before bed. Again, it can be part of your routine of ‘sleep preparation’,

Bedside lights should be bright enough to read, but kept as low as possible to reduce alertness.

However, exercise close to bedtime (1–2 hours) may be a problem.