Exercise and Diabetes

Posted on January 21, 2008

» Filed Under Diabetes |



Your cardiovascular health is benefited from exercise but you can also help you manage your blood sugar. Healthy diabetes diet along with exercise can actually help you reduce any oral medications that you have to take. Many people with type 2 diabetes manage it with diet and exercise.

Exercise boosts your energy level and in turn will boost your mood but most of all it improves your blood sugar and helps you control it. Exercise reduces your blood sugar because as you exercise your muscles use sugar for energy. For type 2 diabetes exercise will increase your insulin sensitivity requiring your body to need less insulin while taking sugar into your cells. Along with healthy eating and exercise many times the need for glucose lowering medicine will not be needed.

Diabetes will also increase your risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke but exercise helps to counteract these risks. Exercise will also help weight lose instead of weight gain that can typically happen with diabetes.

Before beginning a fitness program make sure to get your doctors approval especially if you have been inactive. Discuss the whole exercise program that you are thinking about doing. There may be limitations that you are unaware of. If you have diabetic retinopathy you need to avoid weight lifting and jogging. You also need to discuss the best time for you to exercise according to the insulin that you may be taking. Work your way up to a 30 minute work out, even if it means starting out with only five minutes a day.

While working out make sure to take care of yourself by following some very important points:

- Monitor your blood sugar - Test your blood sugar often while exercising so that your blood sugar levels do not drop too low.

- Pay attention to your feet - Check your feet before and after exercising for blisters and cuts.

- Drink lots of fluids - Dehydration can increase blood sugar.

- Wear diabetic identification - wear shoe tag or bracelet in case of emergency.

- Know when to stop - severe shortness of breath, dizziness, faintness, nausea, chest pain, heart palpitations, or pain in an arm or in your jaw are all warning signs - stop exercising. If you don’t feel better within 15 minutes, seek immediate medical help.

Do not get discouraged if this new exercise routine changes your blood sugar and upsets your normal routine. Test your blood sugar often and adjust your meal accordingly as well as your medication. You will begin to understand how your body responds to exercise and your body will be easier to manage. In time you will see a decrease in weight and an increase in energy levels.

Thomas G., is with GenX Fitness, the leading source for nutritional supplements that increase your health and fitness performance. Learn more at http://www.genxfitness.com

Article Author :Thomas_G.


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