Life expectancy with diabetes is ensured by regular exercise.

Physical activity helps to maintain the correct body weight, has a positive effect on the normalization of the lipid profile, glycemic level, sensitivity of tissues to insulin, and also improves the work of the cardiovascular system.

Exercise is a great way to improve your mood, which often worsens with diabetes.

Family medicine doctor Krystyna Shevchenko tells how to do sports correctly with diabetes.

Physical activity in case of diabetes

In order to understand the benefits of regular exercise and plan your workouts properly, it is important to first understand the mechanisms responsible for regulating blood glucose levels.

Therefore, our muscles, contracting or stretching under various loads, use carbohydrates and fats.

In the case of short exercises, when their duration does not exceed 15 minutes, glucose is released into the blood due to the breakdown of glycogen stored in the muscles.

It is the burning of glucose that provides the energy necessary for muscle work.

When we stop exercising, excess glucose is converted into a reserve form, that is, glycogen.

However, if physical activity lasts more than 15 minutes, glucose begins to flow from the liver.

During long-term physical exertion for more than 30 minutes, the body begins to burn fat (at first, it accumulates in muscles, then in adipose tissue).

Each interruption or end of prolonged physical activity requires our body to replenish the spent glycogen reserves in the muscles and liver,

as well as spent fats.

This process is possible thanks to self-secreting insulin in healthy people, as well as in people with type 2 diabetes or injected in type 1 diabetes patients.

During regular classes, it is very important to prevent the development of hypoglycemia, therefore, regarding long-term exercises, you need to talk to your doctor, and also have a glucometer with you.

Why sports are useful for diabetes

Photo: www.credits

Regular physical activity at a moderate pace has a beneficial effect on everyone, both healthy people and people with diabetes.

Of course, sports should not be considered a panacea, but adequate physical activity is an important factor in the treatment and prevention of many diseases, including diabetes.

It has been proven that doing physical exercises at least once a week significantly reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

And an increase in energy expenditure during exercise by 500 kcal (for example, a 40-minute run or a 1.5-hour walk) leads to a 6% decrease in the probability of developing non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

In addition, sports allow you to maintain a normal body weight or even reduce it, which is of great importance in preventing the development of diabetes, especially the second type.

Yes, regular physical activity reduces the insulin resistance of tissues, therefore, the cells of our body become more susceptible to insulin.

This has a positive effect on reducing the level of glucose in the blood and makes it possible to reduce the doses of sugar-lowering drugs or the number of insulin units administered during diabetes therapy.

The effect of physical exercises on the body of a person suffering from type II diabetes:

  • a significant reduction in the risk of dangerously low blood sugar compared to type 1 diabetes;

  • improvement of blood circulation;

  • decrease in body weight;

    prevention of obesity;

  • normalization of the level of glucose in the blood;

  • increasing the efficiency of the respiratory system.

The safest exercises for people with diabetes are those of moderate intensity, such as jogging, swimming, cycling, and Nordic walking.

With diabetes, any strength exercises are excluded.

In which cases sport and diabetes are incompatible: contraindications

It is necessary to postpone sports when the level of glucose in the blood before a meal is higher than 7.77 mmol/l and after a meal - 12.2 mmol/l with concomitant glucosuria (that is, determination of glucose in the urine) of more than 30.0 g or with the presence of acetone.

In addition, physical activity is not recommended if the blood sugar level is less than 6 mmol/l.

Before starting regular physical activity, you should correct your health with the help of a properly recommended diet and insulin therapy.

It is also important to have concomitant diseases in which sports may be contraindicated.

What exercises to start with diabetes

Before signing up for the first fitness classes or a gym, really assess your capabilities and condition.

Exercise for diabetics who have not previously exercised will differ in intensity from exercise for more active individuals.

What exercises to choose for "beginner" diabetics?

If your physical activity was limited to physical education at school, start with walking, jogging, Nordic walking, swimming in the pool or cycling.

Do not forget that the intensity of sports activities increases gradually.

It is best to bet on moderate continuous classes lasting 30-40 minutes.

Diabetics should not experiment with extreme sports and strength exercises, because the associated energy expenditure is too great, which, in turn, can lead to rapid hypoglycemia.

Read also:

  • Marry to avoid getting sick: living with a partner reduces the risk of diabetes

  • What is a body check and why it can save your life

  • Stress-induced aging: is it true that it steals our youth