How to Lower Blood Glucose Levels with Exercise

How to Lower Blood Glucose Levels with Exercise

It is accepted knowledge that exercise is beneficial, and a necessary part of type 2 diabetes management. Now a new study is showing that combining aerobic and weight training exercise without increasing exercise time will not only help with weight loss, but with lowering blood sugar levels as well.

Blood sugar levels are controlled by insulin, which takes glucose out of the blood and moves it to cells where it can be used as energy. In people with type 2 diabetes the body does not properly use insulin, or does not produce enough to start with. Without insulin doing its job properly, glucose builds up in bloodstream.

When left unmanaged, type 2 diabetes can lead to serious health issues, such as vision problems, heart and kidney disease, and stroke.

Blood glucose levels can be kept lower by eating a healthy, balanced diet that is low in simple carbohydrates (sugar filled muffins, white breads etc) and highly processed or sugar-filled foods, and high in whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Many people with type 2 diabetes take insulin to help control blood glucose levels.

This recent study, led by Dr. Timothy Church, followed 262 participants with type 2 diabetes and HbA1c (a blood glucose marker) levels of 6.5% or higher. Participants were placed into one of four groups: control (no exercise); resistance training 3 days a week; aerobic exercise to burn 12 kcal/kg each week; or resistance training 2 days a week and aerobic exercise to burn 10 kcal/kg each week.

Compared with the control group, the mean change in HbA1c after 9 months in the combination training exercise group was 0.34%. The mean changes in HbA1c were minimal in the resistance training (0.16%) and the aerobic (0.24%) groups. All of the exercise groups saw a reduction in waist size.

While a decrease of .34% may not seem like much, it could be enough to significantly reduce some of the risks associated with type 2 diabetes, especially in combination with other measures.

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