When Snacks Are Needed
Under certain conditions, extra food intake will be necessary to prevent hypoglycemia during exercise. For example, when exercise is going to be performed before or between meals, reducing the insulin at the previous meal would only serve to drive the pre-workout blood sugar very high. A better approach would be to take the normal insulin dose at the previous meal and then snack prior to exercising. If you decide to exercise soon after you have already taken your usual insulin/medication, snacking will be your only option for preventing hypoglycemia. Also, during very long-duration endurance activities, hourly snacks may be necessary in addition to reducing insulin/medication.
The best types of carbohydrates for preventing hypoglycemia during exercise are ones that digest quickly and easily, better known as high glycemic-index foods . These include sugared beverages , breads, crackers, cereal, and low-fat candy.
The size of the snack depends on the duration and intensity of your workout. The harder and longer your muscles are working, the more carbohydrate you will need in order to maintain your blood sugar level. The amount is also based on your body size: the bigger you are, the more fuel you will burn while exercising, and the more carbohydrate you will need.
Of course, if your blood sugar is already elevated prior to exercising, fewer carbs will be necessary. And if you are below target, additional carbs are needed.
The Importance Of Exercise When You Have Diabetes
For people who have diabetesor almost any other disease, for that matterthe benefits of exercise can’t be overstated. Exercise helps control weight, lower blood pressure, lower harmful LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, raise healthy HDL cholesterol, strengthen muscles and bones, reduce anxiety, and improve your general well-being. There are added benefits for people with diabetes: exercise lowers blood glucose levels and boosts your body’s sensitivity to insulin, countering insulin resistance.
Many studies underscore these and other benefits from exercise. Following are some highlights of those results:
In general, the best time to exercise is one to three hours after eating, when your blood sugar level is likely to be higher. If you use insulin, it’s important to test your blood sugar before exercising. If the level before exercise is below 100 mg/dL, eating a piece of fruit or having a small snack will boost it and help you avoid hypoglycemia. Testing again 30 minutes later will show whether your blood sugar level is stable. It’s also a good idea to check your blood sugar after any particularly grueling workout or activity. If you’re taking insulin, your risk of developing hypoglycemia may be highest six to 12 hours after exercising. Experts also caution against exercising if your blood sugar is too high , because exercise can sometimes raise blood sugar even higher.
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What Happens During Exercise
The muscles need more energy during exercise, so the body releases extra sugar, or glucose. For people with diabetes, this can have some side effects. For example, if the body doesn’t have enough insulin to use the glucose that’s released during exercise, then the glucose stays in the blood, which leads to high blood sugar levels. This is called hyperglycemia .
Not having enough insulin to use the sugar in the blood can also cause the body to burn fat for fuel. When the body starts to burn fat for fuel, substances called ketones are produced. People with diabetes shouldn’t exercise if they have high levels of ketones in their blood because this can make them really sick. If you have type 1 diabetes, your doctor will tell you how to check for ketones and treat yourself to get back on track.
The body’s need for extra glucose during exercise can also cause low blood sugar levels . Low blood sugar can happen when the body uses up all the sugar that it’s stored so there’s no more to be released as glucose when the muscles demand it. This is especially true if insulin levels in the blood are still high after taking an injection.
You may need to check blood sugar levels and have an extra snack to prevent low blood sugar levels. If you’re starting a rigorous exercise schedule, like training for a sport, your doctor may recommend that you adjust your insulin dosage to prevent low blood sugar levels.
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How Exercise Affects Blood Sugar
The body relies on two sources of fuel during physical activity: glucose and fat, according to Harvard’s Joslin Diabetes Center. Prolonged or intense forms of exercise deplete blood glucose and glycogen stores as follows:
- During the first 15 minutes of exercise, the body relies mainly on blood glucose or muscle glycogen for fuel.
- As exercise continues, the body starts re-converting liver glycogen into glucose.
- After 30 minutes, the body starts to rely more on body fat.
- The body will eventually rebuild its glycogen stores , but exercise can lower blood sugar levels for up to 24 hours.
Exercise also makes the body more sensitive to the effects of insulin, meaning that more glucose is moved out of the blood and into the cells, according to the American Diabetes Association. Additionally, exercise prompts the cells to take in more glucose to meet the increased energy demands. This can also lead to lower blood sugars.
Exercise does not normally cause problematically low blood sugar for people without diabetes. In fact, reducing blood sugar levels through regular exercise is one of the best strategies to help prevent the development of diabetes, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Read more:6 Amazing Things Exercise Can Do for Your Brain and Body
If You Keep Getting Exercise Lows
Youâll need to make a few changes. Talk to your doctor about options like:
- Adjusting your insulin or medications
- Eating more before you work out
- Changing the kind of workout you do or how long you do it
Show Sources
American Diabetes Association: âBlood Glucose Control and Exercise,â âDKA & Ketones,â âHypoglycemia .â
Lakewood Hospital/Cleveland Clinic. âType 2 Diabetes: Pre-Exercise Blood Sugar Guidelines.â
Sheri Colberg-Ochs, PhD, professor of exercise science, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va.
Joslin Diabetes Center: âWhy Do Blood Glucose Levels Sometimes Go Up after Physical Activity?â, âWhy Is My Blood Glucose Sometimes Low after Physical Activity?â Why Canât I Exercise with Ketones?â
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Sugar After Workout For Muscles
You’ll find that most of the studies that recommend eating carbs after working out focus on the impact on muscle gain. That’s because carbs are imperative to muscle gain. If your goal in working out is to gain muscle mass, you’ll need to pack in the carbs. And even if your intention is losing weight, don’t forget that carbs give you the power to exercise.
In the study from the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, they looked into the diets of bodybuilders. The research showed that successful bodybuilders had diets that consisted of 40 to 60 percent carbohydrates.
You may not be looking to bulk up as large as the men and women of Muscle Beach, but these results still matter for your workout plan. These results show that the consumption of a large portion of carbs is closely related to the increase in muscle mass.
This study’s focus was overall on diet. But it still emphasizes the importance of carb consumption after weight lifting.
How To Reduce Your Blood Sugar Fast
a zero sugar beverage that incorporates antioxidants, which have Blood Sugar Levels After Exercise been shown to assist regulate blood sugar ranges Nuts are full of unsaturated fat , that are generally thought of wholesome fat.
Eating less carbohydrate foods consuming less carbohydrate food similar Blood Sugar Levels After Exercise to bread, pasta, cereals, potato and fruits may cause a big drop Blood Sugar Levels After Exercise in blood sugar, similar to skipping meals If you might have a standard blood sugar level and lack carbohydrates, your blood Blood Sugar Level sugar will naturally drop as most sugar glucose comes from the consumption of carbohydrates With the assistance of contemporary medication and newly launched at house remedies, common medical concerns similar to blood sugar ranges are now simpler to Blood Sugar Levels After Exercise handle than ever The access to at home remedy and out there sources has elevated the ability to self medicate Normal Blood Sugar and often check in along with your health yourself.
Wait for 30 60 minutes with out consuming, Blood Sugar Levels After Exercise and check again to see in case your blood sugar has dropped to a degree that s protected for exercise Strenuous activity and train encourage your .
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Strategies To Keep Blood Glucose From Rising During Workouts
Now that you know what causes a blood glucose rise after or during exercise, you may expect and accept it during your next workout session because you know the benefits of exercise outweigh the rise in glucose. But if youd rather avoid it altogether, here are some strategies that might help:
How Do I Get Better Blood Sugar Levels Even For Non
I like your intent to get lower blood sugar levels even for non-diabetic. I have been questioned many times by friends and families why I want to keep my blood sugars to low level. My goal is to get into below of HbA1c 5.4 or reach as low as 5.1. I started with 5.9 and moving towards my goal. There are few ways to control blood sugar levels both fasting and PPBS and hence the average level too. Exercise on empty stomach. I do distance cycling or weight lifting . Doing exercises on fasted state brings down FBS to as low as 73-84 and PPBS to as low as 111-127. YMMV depending on your body condition. I am in near pre diabetic range if I don’t eat low carb foods. Intermittent Fasting. The longer the fasting hours 16 hours or 20 hours or 24 hours, the blood sugar continues to stay in low range . So average blood sugar reduces if IF is practiced for a long term. Eating only low carb food. Obviously carbohydrates are the causes for increased blood sugar level. Keep a diet rich in dietary fat and protein to reduce average blood sugar.Continue reading > >
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Good And Bad Exercises For Diabetes
One of the first things you might ask is if there are good and bad exercises for people with diabetes as in maybe I should just avoid the bad ones.
Christel Oerum, certified personal trainer and founder of Diabetes Strong and Diabetic Foodie, offered an alternative way to look at this question. Think about it like this: Your body just wants to help you out, it wants you to be successful. So, when you do certain types of workouts, predominantly anaerobic exercises, your body tries to ensure that you have the energy to be successful. It does this by releasing hormones that allow energy, in the form of glucose, to be released into your bloodstream. And that can raise blood sugars.
This response is not unique to people with diabetes. Vieira confirmed that In a nondiabetic body, the exact same process is happening, but their bodies produce extra insulin to deal with the extra glucose.
Just because blood sugar levels rise during certain types of exercise doesnt mean they are bad exercises or that the rise is happening for a bad reason, Vieira added. This is the bodys normal reaction to several factors that can occur mostly during anaerobic exercise like weight lifting, sprinting, spinning classes, competitive moments, etc.
Since its anaerobic exercise that causes BG spikes during activity, you might think that just avoiding sprints, resistance training, or other anaerobic activities could be the answer.
Diabetics Develop Higher Blood Sugar During Exercise
Nov. 18, 1999 âInsulin-dependent diabetics who take part in sports may need to take more insulin after intense exercise rather than less, contrary to conventional wisdom.
A new study, published in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, shows that insulin-dependent diabetics, known as type 1 diabetics, are likely to see an increase in their blood sugar, not a decrease, after an intense bout of physical exertion.
It is healthy for blood sugar to rise during exercise because the muscles need the excess fuel to compensate for the increased demand placed upon them. But in most people the body will adjust after exercising and bring the blood sugar levels back to normal. That is not the case for a type 1 diabetic, because their bodies will not circulate enough insulin, which is required to convert the sugar in the blood.
âAnyone who is competitive, who is doing a sprint, playing hockey, basketball ⦠is at significant risk of developing high sugar as a consequence of their exercise,â study investigator Errol Marliss, MD, tells WebMD. Marliss is professor of medicine and director of the McGill Nutrition and Food Science Center at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal.
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Diabetes Exercise And Foot Care
People who have had diabetes for a long time or those who have consistently high BGLs are at higher risk of developing foot problems. If you have nerve damage to your feet this makes you more prone to injury and to problems such as foot ulcers.
The health of your feet should be checked regularly by a podiatrist to make sure you are safe to do the exercise you are planning.
You can prevent foot injuries and infections by:
- wearing well-fitting socks and shoes check that shoes are long enough, wide enough and deep enough
- wearing the right shoe for the activity you are doing
- inspecting your feet daily
- having annual foot checks by a podiatrist
- reporting to your doctor any changes to your feet, such as redness, swelling or cuts or wounds, as soon as you detect them.
Adrenaline Can Raise Blood Glucose Levels
Using your muscles helps burn glucose and improves the way insulin works. Thats why blood glucose levels usually come down during exercise. But you might see blood glucose go up after exercise, too. Some workouts, such as heavy weightlifting, sprints, and competitive sports, cause you to produce stress hormones . Adrenaline raises blood glucose levels by stimulating your liver to release glucose.
The food you eat before or during a workout may also contribute to a glucose rise. Eat too many carbs before exercising, and your sweat session may not be enough to keep your blood glucose within your goal range.
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Does Exercise Impact Your Glucose Levels
The American Diabetes Association advises that exercise can lower your blood sugar levels for up to 24 hours because:
- Your muscle cells use available insulin more efficiently, meaning you increase your insulin sensitivity .
- Your muscles use more glucose during exercise than when theyâre resting. This greater uptake of blood sugar into your muscle cells naturally lowers blood sugar levels.
But, your blood sugar levels will respond differently while youâre exercising than they will over the long term. Letâs unpack the differences by looking at each.
What Is A Normal Blood Sugar Level
Achieving a normal blood sugar or glucose level is a bit of a misnomer. Often, the word normal is used to reference what someones blood sugars might be if they didnt have diabetes.
However, this terminology is flawed because even people without diabetes do see blood sugar spikes, especially after eating and when consuming something with high amounts of sugar, or a complex carbohydrate like pizza or pasta.
Even though that persons body will immediately start working to counterbalance that rising glucose level by producing more insulin, their blood sugars may still spike for a brief time even beyond those normal ranges. The same can happen with intense exercise or in high-stress situations if the persons natural glucose metabolizing cannot quickly balance everything out.
For those with diabetes, the fact that our bodies dont make or use insulin correctly means we must manually keep tabs on blood sugar levels and take enough insulin or glucose-lowering medication to balance everything out.
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Take Extra Precautions With Evening Exercise
Exercise does two things for those who have type 2 diabetes, says Dr. Hatipoglu.
First, your muscles need energy to work. To feed them, your body burns sugar as an energy source, lowering the glucose levels in your blood.
Second, when you exercise regularly, it helps your body use insulin more efficiently. This can lower your blood sugar levels for up to 12 hours after you exercise.
Also, keeping blood sugar low on a regular basis can dramatically reduce your risk of heart disease, Dr. Hatipoglu says.
Every person reacts a little differently to exercise, so she recommends tracking your blood sugar levels for four to five hours after post-meal exercise to see what your trend is. This can help you determine if your levels are healthy or drop too much.
This is particularly important if you exercise in the evening.
Especially after dinner, you need to know what your body will do when you exercise, she says. If you go to bed and glucose drops it can create a dangerous clinical situation.
Exercising after a meal is a good way to reduce blood glucose levels and lower your risk of complications from diabetes, including heart disease.
But, before starting or changing your exercise regimen, talk with your doctor to determine what is best for you.