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Really Stupid Quesstion about Exercise!

Cloudlesssky

Well-Known Member
Messages
273
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Yup, its a really silly questions, because we all know the benefits of exercise for our health, but ...
WHY is exercise so important for diabetics?

Lots of people seem to say they control their diabetes with diet and exercise ... I'm on Metformin at the moment, but my levels are very high and I've only been diagnosed for about 6 weeks.

So, it's not that I never exercise or that I'm not willing to do more, but just why is it important?!!!

Thank you!

 
This could end up as another one of those contentious arguments so I will tread fairly carefully.

It is fairly well understood that walking lowers your blood sugar. This should come as no surprise since you are using up energy and not eating.

Different people describe this effect in different ways. Dr Kendrick says that if your cells don't need any more sugar (couch potato) then you get high blood sugar. Other people say that exercise overcomes insulin resistance.

Probably simplest to think that exercise just uses up glucose which is what we all want.
 
Exercise, particularly aerobic exercise such as taking a brisk walk, will help "burn" glucose out of your system as it is used up by your muscles as fuels. My understanding is that with exercise more glucose receptors become activated and insulin is more efficiently used by the body to take glucose out of the bloodstream and into the cells were it is needed as fuel.

The above is the short term benefit. There is also a long term benefit.

With regular exercise one would expect increased muscle to body mass percentage and reduced fat to body mass percentage. Both these result in increased insulin sensitivity making us more efficient in processing glucose.

Pavlos
 
Extract from Dr. Kendricks blog

"Carbohydrates, on the other hand, now here you are talking. All the carbohydrates we eat are converted into glucose and/or fructose in the gut [apart from fibre, and starch, which we cannot digest]. Glucose and fructose then pass directly into the liver where, if your body’s sugar stores are full, they are converted into…you guessed it…fat. [Your body can only store about fifteen hundred calories of energy as glucose/sugar before the stores are full – which is not a lot].

Imagine, if you will, a body with full sugar stores* – this would be most people, most of the time. You eat carbohydrate a.k.a. proto-sugar. With sugar stores full, there is nowhere for this excess sugar to go, so the liver converts it all into fat a.k.a. triglycerides. The liver tries to stick this excess triglyceride into a lipoprotein called a VLDL (Very Low Density Lipoprotein). However, this process is complex, so the liver starts to fill up with fat."

Here is a link to the full article. Excuse the language.

http://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2013/08/09/the-most-unutterable-balls/
 

that's a pretty good explanation of my understanding.........
 
You are all very kind and I feel I have a better understanding now! Thank you!
Looks like a few more brisk walks are needed then!
 
BeeGee said:
Looks like a few more brisk walks are needed then!
Click to expand...
Yes. I know that not everyone agrees with everything that the medical profession suggests in relation to Diabetes (including me), but the advice to get regular exercise is good. Like all exercise, it releases endorphins as well, so you feel happier
 
Exercise is important whether you have diabetes or not, it promotes good health and a feeling of well-being, you don't have to do anything too strenuous and an hours walk everyday is sufficient (if you can manage it).
 
I think it is the case that the more body fat you have, the more insulin resistance you have.

(Think of the fat cells being locked against the action of insulin.)

When you exercise, you burn available blood glucose in the muscles (as said by others above), but it also triggers a process which starts to 'unlock' the cells, effectively decreasing insulin resistance.

Plus, of course, the exercise increases the amount of calories the muscles require for several hours after the exercise stops... so that helps too.

Then there are all the benefits of exercise that non diabetics get too. Including fighting depression and improving sleep...

Oh, and one more thing, bursts of exercise (several flights of stairs, brisk climbing a hill, or just dancing round the living room, can significantly drop a blood glucose spike - within a few minutes.
 
You need to be careful not to walk too briskly as if you do your body may decide you need energy and release glucose from your liver. You need to exercise enough to use the glucose that is already in your blood stream. Personally I've found that aiming for between 3 and 3.5 miles per hour works best for me.
 
I think you're all amazing - what a wealth of knowledge there is here - and so much from personal experience.
Yes, I have a really high reading (26) a couple of weeks ago and decided that a brisk walk might help - only 30 minutes, but it had the desired effect.
I need to plan my day a bit, I think.
Thanks all!
BeeGee
 

Interesting! I walk home 3 times a week from work (about 2.7miles) and it takes me about 45 minutes. I had thought about trying to walk faster so I could be home in 30-35 minutes or so but i hadn't appreciated that my blood glucose would change to that extent.
 
I was given metaformin 500mg 2x daily and gliciazide 40mg 2x daily b4 meals when my FBS was 17 detected on 18 August and confrimed by the GP whom I consulted on 25 August in which my FBS was 15.9. The following week, my FBS came down to 6.6 when I changed my diet and exercised more. The 2nd week it was 6.9. Then my HbA1C taken on 25 august was 14.3 after checking out another week later. The doctor put me on Gliciazide 80mg before meals 2x daily. What happened was a surprise....i had hypoglycemia on several occasions and consequently Gliciazide was taken off my medication list. Since then my glucose readings were between 4.0 to 8.0 and the past 10 days, my FBS was within the 5.0+ range. This was made possible with a change in diet and daily exercises - brisk walking and/or jogging for 50 minutes each. At present I m on Metaformin 500mg twice daily and I firmly believe my HbA1C would go below the 6.5 level which is due on 25 November as i wish to be declared diabetes-free medically again.
So change your diet - more veggies n fruits or snacks of nuts in between and get yourself physically involved again. Your glucose will surely come down.
 

What a fantastic success story!

Well done That is inspirational.
 

The effect of exercise on BG depends mainly on the level of insulin in your body. As a type 1 if I exercise just before I'm about to take my daily basal then I don't really need to fuel the exercise with carbs. If I have a 'normal' level of insulin I need to fuel my exercise to the tune of 50g of carbs an hour for steady cardio such as cycling.
 
HI All,

been reading this thread as a newly diagnosed Type 2.
I need to lose weight which will hopefully help with my diabetes so I am joining a gym at which a friend attends. What is the best time to visit - before of after meals?? Ideally I want to use it to help me lose the weight and aid my BG.
Will strenuous exercise cause glucose to be released from cells as Julifriend says above and have an adverse impact on my BG???

Thanks,
Steve
 
@sshaw99

The best time to visit is any time. I like to exercise before my breakfast but I also do some about 90 mins after eating my main meal. Exercising after eating allows you to directly target any spike in your levels. Exercising before you eat allows you to empty your stores and make the muscles more awake to the effects of insulin when you do eat. Will exercise raise your levels. Possibly and it can happen either before or after eating. Just remember though that has come from your fat stores so you are onto a winner no matter what. You can't make an omelete without cracking a few eggs
 
BeeGee if it helps. Since I have started going for a 40 minute walk my bs levels after breakfast have gone down from as much as 8,5 to 6.5. Feeling stronger and charged each day as well.
 
Sometimes the silly or stupid questions end up being a really GREAT question
Some great support and replies to your question .

I walk daily and regularly - it certainly helps to keep my BG levels down and steadier .
 
Just be careful with the type of fruit.
 
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