Wearing an eye mask is helping me sleep better – and shed those hard-to-shift last extra pounds

Every night, before I get into bed, I brush my teeth and put on my pyjamas — and then a purple silk eye mask (the colour was my wife’s choice).

Truth be told, this is more exciting than it sounds: it’s about protecting myself against type 2 diabetes.

For the past year, I have been on a health drive — researching and doing what I can to try to make sure I live a longer, happier and healthy life.

I’d still like to lose those last few kilos of abdominal ‘dad fat’ that I know all too well are bad for me.

My children might joke it makes me cuddly, but that fat is pumping out toxic chemicals, raising my risk of cancer, stroke or a heart attack.

So I eat healthily and have given up the meal-deal can of cola, ultra-processed sandwich and packet of crisps I used to have at work every day. I’ve also cut back on alcohol and started to run 6km into work most days.

But that fat is proving stubbornly resistant, despite my best efforts.

However, a recent paper published in an obscure journal, The Lancet Regional Health Europe, may have the answer for me — and for any of you struggling to lose weight.

That’s where the eye mask comes in.

The researchers from Flinders University in Australia reported that night-time light exposure disrupted people’s body clocks, which had a knock-on effect on their metabolism and raised their risk of weight gain and diabetes.

This was based on analysis of figures from the UK Biobank, an amazing research database containing information from more than half a million people.

Launched in 2006, UK Biobank is an ongoing project collating health data through detailed questionnaires and physical assessments, as well as blood and urine samples, and researchers use all this to learn more about disease and its triggers.

The Flinders team looked at data from 84,000 participants, all of whom were given monitors to assess the amount of light they were exposed to at night over a week. This was then compared with data about those who developed type 2 diabetes over the following eight years.

The results were startling: nearly 2000 people were diagnosed with diabetes in the study period — and those who had more light exposure at night had the greater risk: people exposed to 0-20 per cent more light than the average participant had a 29 per cent greater risk of type 2 than those who had below average levels of night-time light.

Those with 20-40 per cent more light exposure had a 39 per cent higher risk; and 40-50 per cent, a 53 per cent greater risk.

This was, of course, an observational study — and not the gold standard in proof, a randomised clinical trial — so the results gave us a correlation but not necessarily a causal link.

However, it seems clear to me that the actual light exposure was the causative factor. Firstly, as the amount of light went up, so did the incidence of diabetes. But most importantly, there is a biological explanation: we now know that light at night disrupts our sleep and our body clock — the internal clock that regulates our sleep-wake cycle.

This disruption has profound consequences: it can impair insulin sensitivity, or our cells’ response to insulin. This is the hormone that moves sugar (or glucose, as it’s known scientifically) from the blood into cells.

With our cells being less sensitive, glucose levels in the blood become higher and more insulin is produced.

Initially, this process turns the excess glucose into fat. But over time, the process is so stretched that blood glucose levels remain high, leading to type 2 diabetes.

The problem with light exposure at night is that our bodies aren’t primed for it and it reduces the production of melatonin, a hormone that plays a crucial role in helping us sleep. Melatonin also regulates blood sugar levels in its own right; normal melatonin levels mean you don’t feel hungry at night.

Add to this the fact that sleep deprivation can disrupt hunger-regulating hormones, increasing levels of ghrelin (which stimulates appetite) and reducing leptin (which makes you feel full), resulting in increased hunger — and we know where that leads: weight gain.

For someone who works shifts, including nights, and whose four-month-old baby is sharing the bedroom, it’s not surprising my sleep is pretty bad. Plus, we have a night light on so we can check on the baby.

Add to this the fact that when I try to sleep during the day, light seeps in as the blackout blinds don’t fit perfectly. All this may well explain why I have found it so hard to lose those last few kilos.

And it’s not just me: many of us will have some form of light on in our bedrooms during the night — electronic alarm clocks, forinstance, or mobile phones that emit light with a message, or night lights, or perhaps a door open with the landing light on.

There is also the light from outside our houses — street lights, perhaps, beaming through your imperfect, non-blackout shutters, blinds or curtains.

As this study shows, even small amounts of light when trying to sleep can be harmful.

And it’s not just about weight gain: poor sleep is linked to oor cognitive function, mood swings, an increased risk of depression and infection and poor exercise performance.

It also raises the risk of having a heart attack both in the long and short term. A study in 2014 found there are 24 per cent more heart attacks on the Mondays after the clocks go forward in the spring, when sleep is reduced by an hour, compared with other Mondays.

This is where the sleep mask comes in. I probably paid way too much for it, but it truly does block out the light and the silk makes it so comfortable.

I also think it’s starting to work. I am sleeping better and waking up less at night — much to my wife’s annoyance when she is awake breastfeeding and I am out for the count!

But, importantly, I am feeling less tired the next day and my weight is starting to shift a bit.

OK, this is anecdotal and I’ve also started to look at other factors to help my sleep: I’ve stopped having any coffee after lunchtime and I try to eat evening dinner a bit earlier than I used to.

Also, I’ve started to take a magnesium tablet at night. I could equally have opted for a supplement of the amino acid glycine or taurine, or Ashwagandha, which is derived from a plant grown in India.

There is no evidence that low doses of any of these causes harm and some studies have shown that they could be effective in improving sleep duration and quality.

But I’d be wary of taking sleeping tablets unless really necessary. They may help get youto sleep but they don’t provide the natural sleep, with its different phases, that’s so vital to health.

And like any drugs, they’re not without their potential risks.

I have seen so many older patients take a zopiclone (a widely prescribed drug) at night, sleep with the light on, wake up because of that light and then trip and break their hip because of their zopiclone-induced drowsiness. (The drug increases the amount of a brain chemical called gamma-aminobutyric acid, GABA, which slows down how quickly brain neurons function, making you sleepy.)

And yes, try a mask.

The bottom line is: sleep is not a sign of weakness or being lazy. It really is key to a healthier, happier and longer life.