How Does Exercise Affect Diabetes?

How Does Exercise Affect Diabetes?

How Does Exercise Affect Diabetes?

Exercise is important in the fight to control diabetes type 2. A combination or exercise, medicine (if prescribed), and diet can help you control your blood sugar levels and weight.

If you have not been exercising regularly, you should start slow  and not overdo it at first. Gradually work your level up to the recommended amount of daily exercise.

Exercise helps control diabetes type 2 because it:

• Improves the body’s ability to use insulin.
• Burns extra body fat, which helps to lower and control your weight, this in turn helps with the insulin sensitivity.
• Improves the strength of your muscles.
• Increases bone strength and density.
• Lowers blood pressure.
• Lowers  bad cholesterol (LDL) and increases the good cholesterol (HDL), this helps protect your blood vessels and heart.
• Improves your blood circulation.
• Reduces the risk of you getting heart disease.
• Increases your energy level and increases your working ability.
• Reduces stress, releases anxiety and tension, and promotes relaxation.

How Exercise Affects Your Blood Sugar Levels:

Usually insulin is given off by the pancreas as the level of sugar (glucose) increases in your blood, as it does after eating. The insulin being released stimulates the muscles and liver to absorb the excess glucose. This lowers the sugar levels in the blood.

A you exercise your body requires extra fuel or energy that it gets through glucose for the muscles to use. When doing short spurts of exercise, like running to catch a plane or train, your liver and muscles tend to give off their glucose stored for fuel. When exercising for a longer length of time though your muscles absorb about 20 times the glucose they normally do. The decreases the blood sugar levels.

When doing more intense types of exercising though your levels of glucose can increase rather than decrease. This is even more true if you have diabetes already. Your body identifies intensive exercise for being a type of stress, this makes your body release certain stress-related hormones which signals the body to up the level of blood sugar so the muscles can have fuel. When this occurs with you, then you may require some insulin when you finish your intense exercise.

Strength training has been reported to have a huge impact on assisting patients to control their diabetes. In a study recently held on Hispanic women and men, where they underwent strength training for 16 weeks. As a result of this significant improvements were shown in sugar control, these could even be compared to the effectiveness of taking medication for diabetes. These volunteers also lost excess fat, had less depression, put on muscle, were stronger, and had added self confidence.

Aerobic exercise can decrease the chances of you developing diabetes type 2 and also can help anyone that already has diabetes control blood sugar levels more efficiently. You mood can also be lifted by exercising. It is difficult to be all stressed out when taking a brisk walk outside, swimming those laps in your pool, or walking on your treadmill.

If you are concerned about getting diabetes then start exercising today and watching your diet. If you are struggling to control your diabetes then you need to exercise to help you body regulate itself better. You will reap many other rewards for exercising too.

Before beginning any exercise program you should always consult with your doctor.

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