How Exercise Helps with Insulin Resistance

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, How Exercise Helps with Insulin Resistance, Dr. Nicolle

Welcome to Diabetes Prevention Thursdays! Today, let’s talk about how exercise helps with insulin resistance. Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which your blood sugar levels are too high due to insulin resistance, where your body doesn’’t effectively use insulin to break down sugars, despite producing it.

 

This can be dangerous for a number of reasons, involving damage to your nervous system and internal organs. However, there is a way to make your body less resistant, or simply more sensitive to insulin: exercise.

 

Various studies have shown that exercising regularly can vastly improve how well your body uses insulin, even essentially reversing the condition in some cases. While you reverse the effects of insulin resistance, you’’ll also be getting in better physical condition and improving your heart health.

 

The reason exercise has such a drastic effect is actually fairly simple. Regular exercise is one of the best ways to increase insulin sensitivity. It helps move sugar (glucose) into the muscles for storage and promotes an immediate increase in insulin sensitivity, which lasts 2–48 hours, depending on the exercise.

 

Insulin also helps your body turn blood sugar (glucose) into energy. It also helps your body store it in your muscles, fat cells, and liver to use later, when your body needs it. After you eat, your blood sugar (glucose) rises.

, How Exercise Helps with Insulin Resistance, Dr. Nicolle

All of your cells produce energy by breaking down glucose in cellular respiration, even for little activities like breathing, talking, or even just moving your fingers. By engaging in more physical activity, you’’ll be using more of that glucose on a regular basis, not even allowing it to make it into the bloodstream before being used as fuel.

 

So with less glucose in the blood, your body will actually be able to use the insulin effectively enough to regulate the levels in the bloodstream. Now, if you live a fairly non-active lifestyle already, adding in all this exercise might sound a bit daunting since you’re not used to it.

 

It’’s really not as bad as it might sound, though. You don’t have to go out and walk for miles on end every single day, every singly week. It’s been shown that even just a 30 minute walk 3 times a week can make a significant difference in your insulin resistance.

 

Any sort of aerobic exercise will do. Aerobic exercises are ones that make you feel out of breath when you’re done with them or make your heart rate go up. A few common examples are jogging, walking, swimming, and riding a bike.

 

It’’s also recommended to throw in some anaerobic exercises, such as weightlifting. This is because the more muscles you have, the more glucose your body will use when doing aerobic exercise, meaning your insulin will work a bit better.

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, How Exercise Helps with Insulin Resistance, Dr. Nicolle

 

I wanted to talk about this topic because it is absolutely possible to prevent and even reverse Type 2 Diabetes (but you cannot reverse Type 1).  Yes, it’s possible! and emerging studies looking at lifestyle medicine and prevention support this! But I always tell my patients that you must be dedicated and diligent in adopting a healthy lifestyle to get the best results. You can create certain behaviors and practices that will not only enrich your life, but that you can pass on to your family, friends, and community, to help break the cycle of this chronic disease so that you can leave a legacy of health to your loved ones.

 

I use functional medicine and lifestyle medicine as the first line of treatment, before medications, to treat lifestyle-related chronic diseases. Lifestyle-related chronic diseases include diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and some cancers, just to name a few. Lifestyle practices, such as eating a low glycemic, whole-food plant-based diet and regular physical activity, can help you improve your blood sugar levels, maybe reverse type 2 diabetes. In certain cases, these approaches may even outperform pharmaceutical therapy.

 

But I always tell my patients that conventional medications may be appropriate at this time to prevent catastrophic illness, but over time, you can work to make the necessary lifestyle changes to possibly reduce and/or eliminate medications. Please remember to always consult your physician for your particular needs and circumstances prior to making any decisions whatsoever.

 

Is Dietary Supplementation Right For You?

When it comes to managing your blood sugars (in general), pre-diabetes, and diabetes, there are many things that you can do to help control your blood sugar levels. One important aspect is diet. What you eat affects your blood sugar, so it’s important to be mindful of what goes into your body.

 

But it is very important to note that we are not eating the same foods we ate years ago because the soils have been depleted of critical nutrients through current industrial farming practices. And because the soil is not as good as it used to be, the food supply (grown from the depleted soil) is not as good as it used to be. For example, you are not getting the same levels of chromium and magnesium as you would have gotten 30 or even 50 years ago.

 

Second, much of the food has been processed and genetically altered, which can impact the inherent and unique nutritional composition that each food possess. For example, ancient einkorn wheat has less gluten, more protein, more Vitamin A, and more beta carotene, than modern genetically modified wheat.

 

Third, the toxic load in the environment today is much higher than 100 years ago. We can see this with global warming, toxic landfills, polluted oceans and waterways, etc. Toxicity levels interfere with nutrient assimilation and absorption not just into the foods, but into our bodies as well. We often see elevated blood sugar levels with poor nutrition and toxicity.

 

In addition to diet, there are dietary supplements that can have an impact on blood sugar levels. Dietary supplements for diabetes are becoming increasingly popular as people look for ways to improve their blood sugar control.

 

For some people, vitamin and mineral supplements offer important health benefits. Supplements are designed to fight deficiencies found in our diet and complement the food we eat regularly. Supplements are basically “helping hands” to our daily food.

 

If you suspect that you aren’t getting the nutrients you need, consider shifting your focus from supplements to eating better.

 

And if you are unable to eat better, the supplements in my Blood Sugar Support Bundle may provide the extra boost you need.

Blood Sugar Support Bundle

 

These are my favorite Diabetes Prevention Supplements to use! This Blood Sugar Support Bundle will ensure you have the intake of the important vitamins, minerals, and probiotics to decrease inflammation and boost your innate wellness day and night. Taken together, it’s a solid plan for increasing your body’s natural resiliency while encouraging healthy blood sugar levels.

 

For best results make sure you use these supplements with dietary changes including a whole food plant-based diet, regular exercise (at least 2-3x per week), regular sleep (8 hours per night), and intermittent fasting (at least 1-3x per week).

 

It’s important to note that supplements are NOT a replacement for your regular medication regimen prescribed by your doctor. However, they can be used in addition to help manage your blood sugar levels.

 

Supplements have the potential to interact with diabetes medications, so it’s important to speak with a healthcare provider before starting any new supplement regimen.  Have you tried any dietary supplements for your diabetes? Share your experience in the comments below!

 

Tools For Diabetes Prevention and Monitoring

Blood Sugar Monitoring

As you know, I always stress the importance of taking control of your health. Monitoring your blood sugar levels is one of the best ways to do this. To do this, a single drop of blood is collected with disposable lancets and placed on a disposable test strip, which you insert into a home blood-sugar monitoring device, called a glucometer.

 

The common times for checking your blood sugar are when you first wake up (fasting), before a meal, 2 hours after a meal, and at bedtime; however, you should check your blood sugar as many times a day as your health care team suggests.

 

Monitoring your blood sugar level provides you and your doctors with important knowledge about how food, activity, medication, stress, and other elements might affect your blood sugar levels. This data will assist you and your doctor in developing a therapy plan that is suited to your demands.

 

There are several types of blood glucose meters, lancets, and test strips to choose from. I often recommend this glucometer, lancets, and test strips.

 

Weight Monitoring

Since weight management is very important in combatting chronic diseases such as diabetes, I recommend that you be mindful of your weight and its fluctuations, and that you monitor your weight AT LEAST on a weekly basis. I recommend a scale that includes a body composition monitor (*this scale cannot be used with a pacemaker or other implanted devices).

 

Physical Activity

Physical activity (or exercise) can improve your health and reduce the risk of developing several chronic diseases like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and cancer, just to name a few. Physical activity actually improves insulin sensitivity. Physical activity can improve your mood, boost your immune system, and even help you maintain a healthy weight.

 

I often recommend yoga and resistance training for physical activity, but as you are aware, there are plenty of forms of “movement” that you can do! But for the basics, especially if you’re just getting started, yoga and resistance training are where I would start.

 

Yoga

Yoga can be a great way to improve your strength and flexibility, manage your stress, improve your heart health, and lose weight! I recommend using this yoga mat to get started with your yoga practice today!

 

Resistance Training

Resistance training is the mainstay for overall health. It not only has beneficial effects on reducing body fat, it also increases muscle size and strength. Here are some basic resistance bands that I recommend to everyone. They are great for physical therapy, yoga, strength training, and excellent for traveling.

, How Exercise Helps with Insulin Resistance, Dr. Nicolle

Food!

Remember, living a healthy lifestyle including eating a whole foods plant-based diet and regular physical activity are the best ways to prevent diabetes.

 

The Diabetes Meal Plan is geared towards those people with diabetes or prediabetes. The foods are moderately low in carbs, low glycemic, fiber rich, and contain a balance of nutrients to help prevent blood sugar spikes and dips. Foods are also included that may help to lower blood sugar.

 

Cous Cous Turkey Power Bowl

 

Please talk with your doctor about any complementary health approaches, including supplements, you use.

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Last updated on December 14th, 2021 at 06:01 am

, How Exercise Helps with Insulin Resistance, Dr. Nicolle

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