March 29, 2024

In a new study from the George Washington University on a link between walking and diabetes in older people it was found that walking for as little as 15 minutes after meals can dramatically reduce the change of getting diabetes.

Researchers suggest that the finding of the study is highly important as it has found an effective way to control the risk of type-2 diabetes in older adults. Health experts recommend 45-minutes of exercise most days of the week to control diabetes.

Exercise Reduces Diabetes Risk

Walking after meals - Diabetes
Walking after meals – Diabetes

But Lead author, Loretta DiPietro of the Department of Exercise Science at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, says that older adults are not motivated to exercise for sustained periods. Hence, the study has shown a much simpler way to control their diabetes.

“These findings are good news for people in their 70s and 80s who may feel more capable of engaging in intermittent physical activity on a daily basis, especially if the short walks can be combined with running errands or walking the dog,” said DiPietro in a statement.

“The muscle contractions connected with short walks were immediately effective in blunting the potentially damaging elevations in post-meal blood sugar commonly observed in older people.”

What was This Exercise and Diabetes Study?

For this study, DiPietro and her team evaluated 10 volunteers in their early 70s. These participants had elevated blood sugar levels, but were not diabetic. Three different two-day tests were carried out involving all participants and their blood sugar levels were constantly monitored.

Researchers asked the participants to walk on a treadmill for either 45 minutes in the mid-morning or in the afternoon or for 15 minutes after each meal. The three different exercises were conducted four weeks apart.

Researchers found that the blood-sugar levels significantly dropped when the participants performed 45 minutes mid-morning exercise and three 15 minute exercise sessions for two days, but the results of the afternoon 45 minutes exercise did not yield satisfactory results.

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