Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
An exciting study from Yale shows that intense exercise
is far more effective in preventing and controlling diabetes than
exercising at a leisurely pace (Journal of Applied Physiology,
January 2006). Inactive, healthy, non-obese women over 72
years of age were started in training programs of hard (80
percent of aerobic capacity), moderate (65 percent) and easy (50
percent). All three groups did the same amount of work, burning
300 calories per session. The intense group had a great
improvement in their ability to use sugar and suppress fat
formation, while the low intensity group had little benefit.
This means that intense exercise can help both to
prevent and to treat diabetes. The most tissue damage occurs
immediately after eating, when blood sugar levels rise the
highest. After you eat, sugar goes from the intestines into the
bloodstream. The only places that sugar can be stored are in
your muscles and liver. When your muscles are not exercised,
they are full of sugar and sugar has no place to go after it enters
your bloodstream. On the other hand, when your muscles are
exercised, they empty their stored sugar. Then when you eat,
sugar can go from the intestines into the bloodstream and then
immediately into the muscles, preventing a high rise in blood
sugar.
The exciting news from this study is that the more
intensely you exercise, the greater the protection from
developing diabetes and the better the control of your diabetes if
you already have it. A word of caution: 75 percent of diabetics
die from heart disease and some people can suffer heart attacks
during intense exercise, so check with your doctor first.
May 1, 2006