Exercise forms an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. Health experts recommend exercising regularly to maintain a healthy weight, ward off diseases and boost longevity, among other things. For people with Type 2 diabetes, working out on the regular becomes even more urgent. Studies show that exercising regularly helps lower blood sugar, avoid diabetes complications and more.

Why is exercise important for diabetics?

A healthy body uses a type of sugar called glucose as a source of energy. In order for your cells to use glucose, they need a hormone produced by your pancreas called insulin. Insulin allows your cells to absorb glucose and helps break down fats and protein. When your blood sugar levels get too high, your pancreas produces compensatory levels of insulin to bring your blood sugar levels to normal.

But in people with Type 2 diabetes, the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or cells respond poorly to the hormone (insulin resistance).

Exercise can help address these problems because it puts your muscles to work. When you exercise, your skeletal muscle cells don’t need insulin to be able to use glucose. Therefore, your muscles will still be able to absorb this sugar despite the fact that you are insulin resistant. When you’re at rest, your muscle cells will have to go back to relying on insulin to facilitate glucose absorption.

Many studies have also shown that exercise is anti-diabetic. In a study published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, researchers found that high-intensity interval training in the form of cycling reduces high blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes.

Another study, which was published in the journal Diabetes Care, links structured exercise training consisting of aerobic exercise, resistance training or both to better blood sugar control in diabetics. This benefit is more pronounced when exercising for more than two and a half hours than exercising for less than that amount of time.

Aerobic exercise (“cardio”) involves repeated and continuous movement of large muscle groups. It includes activities like walking, cycling, jogging and swimming. Meanwhile, resistance training is designed to improve your strength and includes exercises with free weights, weight machines and elastic resistance bands. (Related: Exercise can delay the development of Type 1 diabetes.)

Exercising regularly is important for diabetics because it helps lower blood sugar levels and greatly helps to prevent the complications of diabetes. Move those muscles to keep yourself healthy and eat a balanced diet for better results.

Source:
courtesy of NATURALNEWS

by Virgilio Marin

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