Diabetes and Exercise
The three cornerstones in the treatment of diabetes are food, medications, and activity. Of these three, activity is often a first choice for the person who has diabetes. Moving toward a more physically active life is generally inexpensive, convenient, and easy and usually produces great rewards in terms of blood glucose control and a general feeling of well-being.
 Whenever you use your muscles, your body burns blood glucose, which is ideal for diabetics. |
Whenever you actively use a muscle, you burn both fatty acids and glucose. During and after periods of activity, your falling glucose level is sensed by the beta cells in your pancreas, and they relax their output of insulin.
This gives your beta cells a break from excessive insulin production. In addition, the lower insulin levels signal your liver to empty its glucose reserves (glycogen) into the blood to supply the muscles with needed energy.
As physical activity continues, the liver converts amino acids, lactic acid, and fats into glucose to supply the muscles. If the activity continues long enough, even the body's fat cells get in the game. They compensate for the reduced fatty acid levels in your blood by converting their stored triglycerides into fatty acids.
When all of these steps are considered, it's easy to see why using your muscles is the perfect treatment for diabetes. It lowers blood glucose, lowers fatty acid levels in your blood, and reduces the workload of your pancreas. And, unless you are on a medication that can cause hypoglycemia, physical activity won't cause your blood glucose level to fall below normal the way some other diabetes treatments may.
To get started incorporating exercising into your diabetes treatment, see the links below:
Starting a Diabetes Exercise Program
In this article, you will find the motivation you need to get off the couch and hit the gym. We will also show you the precautions you and your doctor should take before you start exercising.
How to Exercise With Diabetes
Here you will learn everything you should know when exercising with diabetes, including what your target heart rate should be and how hard you should push yourself.
Diabetes Exercise Warnings
On this page, you will learn about some additional precautions you should take when exercising with diabetes. For instance, diabetics can be at an elevated risk for hypoglycemia while exercising.
For more information on diabetes in general, try the following links:
- To learn more about diabetes in general, including diagnosis, causes, symptoms, and treatment, visit our main Diabetes page.
- Our main Type 1 Diabetes page will tell you more about this form of diabetes, commonly called, "juvenile diabetes."
- To find out more about type 2 diabetes, which has reached the level of national health epidemic, go to our main Type 2 Diabetes page.