Most of us think of stroke as of a sudden medical emergency that happen without warning. A person can go to bed feeling completely fine and then experience life-changing neurological issues just a few hours later.
According to cardiovascular experts, strokes are rarely the result of a single isolated incident. On the contrary, they are mostly a culmination of long-term health factors, systemic inflammation, and everyday lifestyle choices that help shape our vascular health over the years.
In this list of everyday decisions, our sleeping routine proves to be surprisingly significant. The things that we do right before sleep have an effect on our blood pressure, blood sugar level, and on the overnight recovery of our organism. The newest medical studies show how two rather popular nighttime habits can put extra stress on our heart and increase our risk of having a stroke.
Late night sugar and vascular damage
Consuming high-energy drinks containing sugar, such as soda, sweet tea, or juice, during the night, forces the body to cope with large intake of glucose. It comes during the period when the metabolism starts to slow down because the body prepares itself for sleep. Throughout the daytime, the activities we do help get rid of extra glucose in the body. However, during the night, there is no possibility to do so, and the burden is put onto the metabolism.
