Diabetes and exercise and reduction of insulin

Hi Marie,

Although I can't site my sources from the top of my head, and I have seen many (including the ACE article Karin posted above), I will summarize for you.

Exercise uses glycogen, its chosen form of energy.
Sugars are broken down into glycogen to be used or stored.
Exercise uses the glycogen already stored in the muscles, and knowing it has to replace the energy, the muscle becomes more accepting of taking in glycogen from the blood.
So exercise causes an insulin-type effect, pulling more glycogen from the bloodstream then it would when at rest or sedentary.

Hope this helps,
Josh

www.virtuefitnesscpt.com

Hello Marie Levine,

Yes, it is possible. Remember, exercise is medicine, so is a healthy diet. Karin Singleton and Joshua Powell do a nice job of explaining this for you. You will want to check with your doctor and registered dietitian for your personal needs and doses.
Take care.

Great answers from Karin and Joshua.

If you were interested in more information about insulin in general, check out this link from the American Diabetes Association's website:

- http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/medicati...

Hope you find this useful!

Hello Marie,

I am currently pursuing my masters degree in Diabetes Education and Management at Columbia University here in NY and am about to take the certified diabetes educator exam at the end of May 2013. I highly encourage you to collaborate with an exercise physiologist who is a certified diabetes educator.

However, according to the textbook "The Art and Science of Diabetes Self-Management and Education," "Physical Activity has many benefits, but in type 1 diabetes increased attention must be given to age, consistency, insulin dosing, and changes in blood glucose levels. Increased frequency in checking of blood glucose is a requirement, as is education on how to respond before, during, and after the period of physical activity."

It goes on to say that "Individuals of all ages with diabetes need to make adjustments in their diabetes regimen for changes in activity levels."

As much as I would like to give you a concrete answer, it is not possible as that are so many factors to consider besides amount of physical activity one is engaging in.

If you are in need of a diabetes educator in your area you can visit www.diabeteseducator.org.

I hope this give you some direction.

Hi Marie,

My wife has had Type I diabetes for 20 years, and she wears an insulin pump (with fast-acting insulin). I've had great success helping her to improve her fitness level safely, and it's a matter of trial and error. I'd have to agree with Joanne--diabetes is a very individual disease, and there are many factors which affect glucose levels and insulin dosage...exercise, carbohydrate and fat consumption, other medications, stress, infections (colds, etc.), and meal and exercise timing, to name a few. Depending upon how tightly one controls his/her blood glucose, even a small change in activity (or an unplanned activity) like walking the dog or cleaning the house might cause hypoglycemia, so be sure any client on insulin has adequate glucose testing supplies and some form of glucose on hand for any workout. Encourage your client to stop and check his/her glucose regularly.

In my experience with my wife, weight-bearing activities (especially lower body) like squats, leg presses, and spinning drive her glucose up, so she tends to start with those activities, and finishes her workout with cardio like walking or jogging since those activities tend to drop her glucose quickly. She reduces her insulin to about 50% of normal from 30 minutes pre-workout until 30-minutes post-workout. Again, every person is different, and every workout requires some advanced planning to get the most benefit. Sometimes despite her planning, she'll have hypoglycemia mid-workout, and she treats it, rests, and finishes her workout. She wears an insulin pump, which makes planning easier and lets her work out and eat when she wants to for the most part rather than being on the same regimented schedule day after day. She tends to use less insulin during workouts overall and for several hours post-workout. On days when she's less active (sick, sitting in a car travelling, etc.), her glucose is definitely higher and she does require more insulin. The other thing that helps her to use less insulin is a low-fat, moderate-carbohydrate diet.

I hope this helps. It's not a perfect science, and Type I diabetics will always need insulin, but there are ways to use less. As I said, my wife uses less insulin on workout days, but interestingly, she uses the same ratio of insulin to carbohydrate consumed as she did 20 years ago, even though she's about 40 pounds heavier now. That's another way Type I and Type II diabetes are different, but that's a whole different post.

Best,
Harris

Hi Marie,

There is a book I recommend for you: "Exercise and Sport in Diabetes" by Bill Burr and Dinesh Nagi. It has some great research and information about type 1 and type 2 Diabetes and exercise.

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-047002206X,descCd-tab...

Best,
Harris

Here is one more interesting article on type 1 and exercise:

http://diabeteshealth.com/read/2010/10/31/6751/exercise-often-raises-blo...

Best,
Harris

Yes, Proper exercise and perfect diet is very important to control diabetes. If you take proper food in the correct interval of time diabetes will easily manage, the Ayurvedic medicine for diabetes are very effective in diabetes control naturally.
http://www.kuberaksha.com/

It is possible, but needs to be determined by a physician. And the exercise program needs to be adhered to regularly to produce the same response.

In diabetes your blood glucose or sugar levels remain very high. When we talk about type 1 diabetes condition, the pancreas does not produce insulin which is a hormone that energizes the cells of our body. Without insulin, level of glucose raises in blood and lead to serious health problems. As far as its treatment is concern, you should visit http://www.diabeticlivingonline.com/medication/insulin/insulin-and-other... that could be very helpful. It’s important to take doctor’s opinion and follow the prescribed treatment.