If you are pre-diabetic, a regular weekly exercise routine can be an important and easy way to prevent diabetes. On today's Health Minute, endocrinologist Dr. Tim Graham talks about why as little as 150 minutes of exercise per week may be all you need to help prevent diabetes.
Diet and exercise
Weight loss resulting from healthy eating and increased physical activity enables muscle cells to use insulin and glucose more efficiently, thus lowering diabetes risk. Lack of exercise can cause muscle cells to lose their sensitivity to insulin, which controls levels of sugar in the blood.
The goal is to get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity. One way to do this is to try to fit in at least 20 to 25 minutes of activity every day. Also, on 2 or more days a week, include activities that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms).
An Exercise Schedule to Reverse Diabetes
The American Diabetes Association suggests getting at least 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity in addition to 2 to 3 sessions of resistance training per week. Lark can help you set activity goals and stay on track to hit them.
In fact, studies have shown that a 30-minute brisk walk within 30 minutes after a meal can lower your blood sugar 50 times more than being sedentary," Canon continues.
Research has shown that when cycling and walking were compared for individuals with type 2 diabetes, it was seen that cycling has less impact on the feet and lowers blood pressure levels more than walking. Thus, cycling can be used to control blood sugar spikes. Cycling also burns more calories than walking.
Apparently, the "what" (exercise) makes a difference, as does the "when." Getting physically active in the afternoon or evening, ideally between noon and midnight, may significantly decrease insulin resistance and may be better at helping to control blood sugar than A.M. exercise.
Exercise. More physical activity is a way to improve diabetes, but it may be tough to lose enough weight to go into remission with workouts alone. When combined with changes to your eating, though, exercise helps. A modest, lower-calorie diet plus a big step up in burning calories could put you on the path to remission ...
Even Really Healthy People Are Prone to Diabetes: Here's What You Should Know. We often assume that just because a person is skinny, they're in perfect health. However, even healthy people can develop insulin resistance, a condition that leads to high blood sugar or diabetes.
Exercise draws on reserve sugar stored in your muscles and liver. As your body rebuilds these stores, it takes sugar from your blood. The more strenuous your workout, the longer your blood sugar will be affected. Low blood sugar is possible even four to eight hours after exercise.
In fact, the more you walk—especially at a more intense, faster pace—the lower your diabetes risk. Try to work your way to 10,000 steps per day or at least 30 minutes a day to cut your risk of type 2 diabetes.
The risks of an exercise program include precipitation of cardiovascular events, damage to the soft tissue and joints of the feet, visual loss, early and delayed hypoglycemia, and hyperglycemia and ketosis.
There is no single timeline for reversing prediabetes. For some patients, a return to normal blood sugar levels may come over a few months, while for others, it may take years.
However, remission is not a cure for type 2 diabetes because the disease may return. For someone with prediabetes, steps such as losing weight and exercising regularly can help reverse insulin resistance. These steps may prevent or slow the progression to type 2 diabetes.
“The best way to reverse the prediabetes process and for you not to develop Type 2 diabetes is weight loss,” Dr. Avadhanula notes. “As we gain more weight, our cells become more and more resistant to the effects of insulin. And unfortunately, insulin resistance is the first key step in developing Type 2 diabetes.”
If you have obesity, your diabetes is more likely to go into remission if you lose a substantial amount of weight – 15kg (or 2 stone 5lbs) – as quickly and safely as possible following diagnosis.
Losing weight and reversing prediabetes can take anywhere from a few weeks, to a few months, to a few years, but the window of time to reverse prediabetes after a diagnosis is between 2-6 years – so you have time!
Moderate-intensity stair walking for as little as 3 minutes can lower glucose and insulin concentrations, and 10 minutes of stair walking can improve insulin sensitivity, according to study findings.
It can also help you manage these conditions better. For instance, exercises for diabetes can help lower blood sugar levels and avoid further complications. One of the best exercises to include in your exercise routine would be a plank.
Moreover, treadmill exercising improves diabetes control by improving muscle insulin sensitivity for nearly 24 to 48 hours following exercise.