Last Updated on April 26, 2021 by Dr Sharon Baisil MD
Diabetes is a rapidly increasing ailment and health issue of the modern-day. More and more patients are being diagnosed with this blood sugar condition. China and India are the top two countries with the highest diabetic patients, as per recent research.
Diabetes is a condition that asks for several important and attentive care needs. It is crucial to keep the body healthy and make necessary lifestyle changes to keep it properly functional.
Diet and exercise are among the topmost needs that one must include and manage in their everyday routines to ensure a safe and harmless diabetic life. Running is one of the commonest forms of exercise. It is said to be very beneficial in keeping the body actively functional.
But is it a very effective solution? Well, this is what we will be discussing today. We will find out about …
- Does running help prevent diabetes?
- How does running affect blood sugar?
- Is jogging good for diabetes?
- Can exercise alone prevent diabetes?
- What is the best exercise to prevent diabetes?
Hence, we have several important as well as interesting topics coming up in today’s article. Make sure you stay with us until the end to properly find out about these answers and implement good and healthy habits in your diabetic lives.
So let us begin!
Does running help prevent diabetes?
While exercise is a big part of diabetes control, running can be an efficient way to include the benefits of exercise and aid in managing diabetes.
Running is among the ideal forms of exercise. It is a quick and effective way to stimulate the body in high intensities to encourage good activity overall the body.
But it is important to keep the fact in mind that diabetes is a condition that cannot be prevented just by running. It requires proper maintenance and balancing of diets, exercise schedules, proper rest, etc. Running can help to improve your condition and also aid in better management of blood sugar complications.
Running can have several benefits on the body that can promote the control of blood sugar issues. It is said to be a great way to solve the conditions of insulin resistance in the body.
Insulin is a major metabolic hormone that plays a crucial role in regulating the blood sugar levels in the body. The improper secretion of insulin by the pancreas can cause high blood glucose levels as the insulin does not act upon sugar releases in the bloodstream.
Thus, insulin resistance in the body can give rise to higher blood glucose levels and prolonged causes of diabetes. Running is a great way to mitigate insulin resistance and arouse insulin sensitivity to better manage diabetes.
Running is also great for keeping the body active and leading to weight loss. Managing the bodyweight is essential, and for diabetic patients especially. Running is an excellent source of regular exercise that is a cardio form of movement, which induces heart rate rising and promotes weight loss.
It is also a good way to keep away heart stroke risks by running. Running also improves overall body functioning and helps to encourage fitness. This, in turn, provides the body with the needed strength to keep away other symptoms and ailments.
Diabetes and running go hand in hand, but at the same time, be careful to make all the necessary precautions and not overdo anything without expert advice. Running can greatly impact the diabetic body, and you have to be careful that this impact does not turn negative.
We will discuss more on this as we keep moving forward.
How does running affect blood sugar?
Running has a very influential impact on the body’s blood sugar regulation. Running can help with keeping the blood glucose of the body under control and within normal limits.
Running increases the physical activity in the body. An increase in physical activity asks for more energy. This energy is derived from the reserve sugars in the body.
Sugars accumulated from the consumption of carbohydrates are the main underlying cause of diabetes. These quantities of extra sugar in the bloodstream lead to an increase in the overall blood sugar levels.
Including physical exercises such as running can fight diabetes well as it uses the energy that is otherwise stored as sugar in the body.
Hence, physical exercises and running can be very effective in improving diabetic blood sugar levels. It has a hypoglycemic effect on diabetic patients and results in blood sugar control.
But at the same time, care should be taken that the glucose levels of the body do not go under normal levels. Often, the heavy taxing of the body during exercise can reduce energy levels below normal limits.
Therefore, it is important to keep a limit and follow it to check your glucose rates and not fall under any extreme hypoglycemic risks. The harms of lowering your blood glucose levels beyond minimum limits can be very risky and have several discomforts on the body.
We have some tips for you that you can use to avoid any mishaps:
- Carry your water bottle while you decide to go running. This can help you to keep yourself hydrated and save from extreme energy loss. It is usually helpful for people with hyperglycemic diabetes as a low amount of water in the body can pose several complications.
- To ensure that you do not run out of energy, you can carry lightly sugary drinks, energy drinks, glucose tablets, etc. It is recommended to keep your body away from the risks of hypoglycemia.
Hence, it is necessary to find out your best body needs, as all of our bodies are different and differ in maintenance requirements. You can consult your doctors and know better about what would suit your diabetic body, and plan accordingly.
Is jogging good for diabetes?
We had a look at the positive effects and benefits of running in diabetes. But what about jogging? Does jogging also help with diabetes? Let us have a look at this as well.
Jogging is also a form of exercise that benefits the body. The benefits of jogging are equivalent to the benefits of running when it comes to diabetic individuals. Jogging can also induce enough necessary physical exercise that is required by diabetic health management.
Just like running, the effects of jogging can be advantageous and effective in lowering the body’s blood sugar levels. Jogging also uses up energy and thus, makes use of the reserved sugar that is present in the body.
Exercises such as running and jogging can induce blood sugar maintenance over 24 hours even. Jogging is an activity that is less physically exhaustive and intense than running.
Thus, the effects of jogging on lowering blood sugar levels would be comparatively lesser than that of running. Anyone can take up jogging to induce more controlled physical activity.
Running can be hard on the body; you can start with jogging and eventually pick up running. This is a great way to include exercise without being too harsh on yourself.
Moreover, jogging being a lower intense activity can be less risky for diabetic patients. It might not be very taxing on the blood sugar levels to cause any hypoglycemic dysfunctions. But at the same time, jogging as a physical exercise is in no way a compromise on its benefits.
It is still important to understand your body’s potential and not rush or overdo anything.
Including jogging in your everyday routine is a great way to tackle diabetes and make healthy lifestyle changes.
Can exercise alone prevent diabetes?
Diabetes is a condition of blood sugar levels and their underlying metabolic processes. It requires several attentive needs to cure and handle diabetes. Proper maintenance and overall health keeping come from a balance in the body.
This balance in the diabetic lifestyle is brought by a combination of health-keeping manners, diet, and exercise.
Exercise alone, for that matter, cannot lead to the prevention or reversal of diabetes. The major idea behind diabetes control is to induce ways to lower blood sugar levels. Exercise can help in utilizing the amount of sugar in the body, but on the other hand, you will have to restrict your intake of overall sugar.
Depending on exercise alone for glycemic control is not helpful for diabetes management. It has to be paired and planned with dietary control to avail its full benefits.
For pre-diabetics, exercise may be an effective way to keep away the risks of developing diabetes. Still, it surely has to be juxtaposed with the right diet for holistic benefits.
We have some more ways that you can engage in to foster diabetic control.
What is the best exercise to prevent diabetes?
There are plenty of exercises that you can include in your daily schedules to ensure diabetic control. Below is a list of physical exercises, apart from the above-discussed – running and jogging, that you can adopt for diabetes management:
- Walking
- Yoga
- Swimming
- Cycling
- Calisthenics
- Strength training and weightlifting
- Aerobic exercises
- Breathing exercises
- Pilates
- Resistance band exercises
- Stretching
Etc.
These physical activities enhance fitness and encourage proper stimulation. The various good benefits of exercising can help in keeping away diabetes as its complementary symptoms.
Make sure to match your physical activity routines with your body potentials and daily healthy diets.
REFERENCES
- https://www.evidentlycochrane.net/preventing-type-2-diabetes-people-with-prediabetes-do-diet-and-exercise-work/
- https://www.timesnownews.com/health/article/running-the-best-exercise-for-people-with-type-2-diabetes-to-lower-blood-sugar-and-control-weight/394274
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/diabetes-and-exercise/art-20045697
- https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/27/suppl_1/s58.short
- https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/33/3/161.short
- https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD002968.pub2/abstract?cookiesEnabled
- https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/25/suppl_1/s64.short
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