People are now given more reason to sleep in during the weekends. A new study found that making up for lack of sleep during the weekdays will not only restore energy, it will also reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

The results of a research from the University of Chicago shows that people with four nights of sleep deprivation exhibited blood changes suggestive of sugar level mishandling. However, when these people were asked to sleep longer for the next two nights, their blood tests returned to normal. Such intervention signifies that extra sleep was able counteract the effects of sleep deprivation.

"The metabolic response to this extra sleep was very interesting and encouraging," says senior author Dr. Esra Tasali.

Co-author Dr. Josiane Broussard, who is now at the University of Colorado Boulder, says the study implies the need to pay back sleep debt if it is impossible to extend sleep during weekdays.

The study had two parts and involved 19 healthy men who participated in both of the experiments.

For the first part, the subjects were asked to sleep for an average of 8.5 hours for four nights. In the second part, the men were deprived of sleep and were only allowed to rest for 4.5 hours for four nights. The researcher then allowed the men to sleep for extended periods during the next two nights, with an average of 9.7 hours.

After the experiments, the researchers tested the participants' insulin sensitivity, which is the ability of the hormone to regulate sugar levels. They also identified the subjects' diabetes risk via a disposition index.

Insulin sensitivity plummeted after four nights of sleep deprivation by 23 percent and diabetes risk increased by 16 percent. However, after two nights of prolonged sleep, the tests returned to normal levels.

Amid the findings, Broussard warns that the study does not indicate that sleeping in during the weekend can counter the negative consequences of inadequate sleep every other night during the weekdays. Ultimately, the study does not prove that making up for lost sleep will prevent diabetes.

Despite the uncertainties, Broussard says one thing is likely to be true: sleeping more is beneficial.

The study will be published in the journal Diabetes Care.