What exercises can lower blood sugar?
And how many minutes of exercise should a diabetic per week?
What are the precautions to be taken when exercising for diabetics?
The answers to these and other questions are in this report.
We start with the benefits that physical activity can provide for diabetes, including:
1- Helping the body to use insulin better, according to the British Diabetic Association.
2- Helping to control high blood pressure;
Because high blood pressure means you are more likely to have diabetes complications.
3- Helping to improve cholesterol (blood fats) to help protect against problems such as heart disease.
4- Facilitating weight loss if you are overweight or obese, and also helping to maintain a healthy weight.
5- Exercise gives you energy that helps you feel energized.
6- Helping to sleep.
7- Exercise releases endorphins, which are believed to play a role in improving mood. Physical activity has been shown to reduce stress levels and improve bad moods.
8- For people suffering from type 2 diabetes, physical activity helps improve levels of the cumulative sugar "glycosylated hemoglobin" (glycated hemoglobin HbA1c, hemoglobin A1c).
The best exercises to control blood sugar
The British Diabetes Association says no type of activity is best for everyone with diabetes;
But it is about finding what works for you, and that depends on a lot of things;
Like what you enjoy, where you are, and how much time you have.
The association advises to think about how the activity fits with your life, not the other way around, and to work on adding some traditional exercises as well.
The association adds that it is best to do a mixture of different types of activities;
Because different types have different benefits, doing the same thing can get boring after a while.
According to a report in the Insider website, the best exercises for diabetes include any kind of moderate physical activity.
According to the report, people with diabetes, like all other American adults, need to get 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, according to the American Diabetes Association.
The best exercises to lower blood sugar can be summarized as follows:
1- Walk.
2- Gardening (gardening).
3- Playing tennis.
4- Cleaning the house.
5- Move on the job, as it is important to maintain activity at work when you are diabetic, especially if you have to sit in front of the computer for a long time.
6- Climbing stairs.
7- Simple chair exercises, such as sitting up and raising your arms.
If you are concerned about initiating any of these types of activities, talk to your doctor, who will be able to advise you on how to adjust things to suit you.
What are the precautions?
First and always consult a doctor, especially if you have type 1 diabetes, or suffer from hypoglycemic attacks.
The doctor will guide you to a regimen of physical activity that is right for you and for you.
If you have complications from diabetes, such as problems with eyes and feet, you will need to choose certain activities, of course, with consulting a doctor, and if you suffer from foot ulcers, you may need to avoid certain types of activities such as jogging, and the exercises that depend On the chair you are better.
Kinds of diabetes
It should be noted that type 1 diabetes is also called insulin-dependent and juvenile diabetes.
It is an autoimmune disease, in which the body's immune system attacks and destroys beta cells in the pancreas, which leads to a gradual decrease in the amount of insulin secreted by the pancreas.
The disease develops before the age of 35 years, and those with it are usually between 10 and 16 years old, and it constitutes 5% to 10% of the proportion of people with diabetes.
Treatment of type 1 diabetes requires the patient to be given insulin by injection or by pump, and this leads to a decrease in blood glucose and control.
As for type 2 diabetes, it is called non-insulin dependent diabetes and adult diabetes, in which the sensitivity of cells to insulin decreases, that is, the degree of response of the body's cells to it decreases, and this is called "insulin resistance". Cells resist the hormone insulin, whose function is to introduce Glucose to it.
And people with this type are usually obese.
Therefore, weight reduction and dietary modification is the first treatment mechanism, in addition to drugs, some of which stimulate the secretion of insulin from the pancreas, and some of them increase the sensitivity of cells to the hormone.
This type usually affects people over the age of 40 years, and constitutes 90% of the proportion of people with diabetes, and genetics contributes to it more than type 1 diabetes, and obesity is one of the most important factors of diabetes.
Effect in different ways
Physical activity can affect blood sugar levels in different ways, depending on the type of activity you do, and many diabetics do not want to exercise.
Because it may lower blood sugar, which is a justified and understandable fear.
People with type 1 diabetes should be especially careful, as exercise can drastically lower blood sugar, which may lead to health complications including seizures and coma in severe cases.
The American Diabetes Association says that people who take insulin or insulin-releasing drugs (oral diabetes pills that cause the pancreas to produce more insulin) are at risk of hypoglycemia if the dose of insulin or carbohydrates is not adjusted.
She adds that it is important to check blood sugar before undertaking any physical activity to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
Talk to your diabetes care team to see if you are at risk of developing hypoglycemia.
Managing blood sugar during exercise
There is no single way to control blood sugar;
Because everyone manages diabetes differently, here we offer some tips to help;
But talk to your diabetes health care team for more advice.
Precautions when exercising for diabetics
1- Measure the sugar before starting the exercise.
2- Keep low sugar treatments on hand, such as a carbohydrate snack, juice, sugar, and candy.
3- Put on the Diabetes ID (Beja or Swar says that you have diabetes and its type, and any important information about your history) so that the people around you can know that you have diabetes, and they will help you if you lose consciousness.
4- If you use insulin to treat your diabetes, you may need to make changes to the dose that you take while exercising.
Consult a doctor.
If you experience hypoglycemia during or after exercise, treat it immediately:
1- Check your blood sugar level.
2- If the reading is 100 mg / dL or less, eat 15-20 grams of carbohydrates to raise your blood sugar level.
This includes:
Half a cup (125 milliliters) of juice or regular sugar-free soda (not diet).
A tablespoon of sugar or honey.
4 glucose tablets, each tablet weighing 4 grams.
The “glucose gel tube” tube weighs 15 grams.
3- Check your blood sugar again after 15 minutes.
If it's still less than 100 mg / dL, eat another 15-gram serving of carbohydrates.
4- Repeat these steps every 15 minutes until blood sugar reaches at least 100 mg / dL.
5- If you are tired or sugar is still low, or you feel that you will pass out, call 911 immediately.
Keep in mind that low blood sugar can occur during or long after physical activity.