Taking more exercise can help reduce diabetes risk

Fri, 26 Aug 2011
New research has revealed that taking regular exercise can help manage type 2 diabetes, but that a lack of exercise could even cause the metabolic condition to develop.

The study examined people in their normal lives rather than in a laboratory, finding that even short-term inactivity can have a direct impact on spikes in levels of blood sugar after eating. Such spikes are a known risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes . The guidelines used by many health professionals involve people taking at least 10,000 steps each day.

The research involved implanting continuous glucose monitors under the skin of a number of healthy and moderately fit patients between the ages of 28 and 30, to assess their levels of blood glucose levels during two separate three-day periods.

In one period, they kept to their normal exercise routine of over 10,000 steps per day, and for the other, they didn’t take exercise and took less than 5,000 steps. It was shown that during the three days of less activity, respondents’ blood glucose levels spiked much higher after eating, as compared with when they exercised.

Study author John Thyfault stated "Reducing exercise or stopping it altogether, even for a few days, causes acute changes that are associated with diabetes . And they're changes that often happen before people gain weight or become obese."

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