A Simple Way To Reduce Diabetes Risk

In recent times, diabetes has become one of the most common diseases, and people of all ages suffer from this very serious health condition. There are 2 types of diabetes: type 1 known also as juvenile diabetes, and type 2 diabetes which is more common in adult people. Those who suffer from this disease have problems with producing insulin in their body, that is why most of them have to use insulin injections to support their body function. Insulin resistance that our body can develop on a certain point of our life is considered to be among the most common causes of type 2 diabetes, and the problems with the immune system function usually results in developing type 1 diabetes. If you want to know more what is diabetes and what is the specifics of this disease, check out this article.

A great deal of people who are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes (i.e. have a family history of this disease, suffer from obesity or impaired function of the immune system, etc.) are looking for effective ways and techniques to prevent this serious health condition. Researchers are looking for new approaches and suggestions for diabetes prevention, and one of such recommendations was recently published by an expert team at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. As their experiments have shown, walking for just 15 minutes after every meal can turn into a great assistance and help reduce diabetes risk. No need in doing any kind of exercises, just moderately-paced walk can be enough to lower our chances to develop diabetes and suffer from other very serious diseases linked to type 2 diabetes.

According to Loretta DiPietro, one of the study leaders and professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services,  walking after meals can help us control sugar levels in blood that sometimes go quite high after having a sugar-rich meal. Her recommendation as to using a moderate walk after having a meal is the following: “You eat a meal. You wait a half-hour and then you go for a 15-minute walk, and it has proven effective in controlling blood sugar levels, but you have to do it every day after every meal. This amount of walking is not a prescription for weight loss or cardiovascular fitness — it’s a prescription for controlling blood sugar.” She underlined that the timing of walk is the only important thing to keep in mind, but the place or style of walking have no importance at all.

During the study, the researchers worked with 10 adult participants who have been leading a sedentary lifestyle for many years, and all were diagnosed with pre-diabetes condition (in other words, they all had increased sugar levels in their blood). The study lasted for two weeks, and each other participant stayed in so called ‘metabolic chamber’: a special room allowing monitoring their calorie loss. On the first day of the experiment, the participants were asked to make no physical activities, on the second day they were involved in 45 minutes of walking at 10:30 pm and 4:30 pm. Finally, on the third day the participants were asked to walk for 15-30 minutes after every meal, and then the cycle of the experiment continued. After measuring blood sugar after every exercise, it turned out that walking for 15 minutes after meal has the most effects form diabetes risk reduction.

The scientists also point to the fact that reduced diabetes risk is just one of the many benefits of taking a small walk after meal. They say that primarily, walking works great for improving digestion and stimulating blood circulation. The researchers recommend taking a  stroll after lunch or dinner with your dog, with a friend or a neighbor, and benefits from this very simple and very effective health strengthening technique. The findings of the study appeared recently in the journal Diabetes Care and evoked a live interest of diabetes specialists. “What we don’t know is if it is going to make a big difference over time in people’s progression from prediabetes to diabetes — any more than the standard exercise advice of walking 30 minutes a day five days a week,” said John Anderson, a chief of medicine and science for the American Diabetes Association.

Author Info: Hi! My name is Carla and I am a 5th year medical student at HYMS. I am interested in alternative medicine and I have done months researching the topic of herbal medicine. Besides, I like interviewing people and learning more about their experiences with one or another type of herbal treatments. I am willing to contribute to this site with my knowledge, and I would be happy to help you out to the best of my ability with any specific questions or problems related to alternative medicine.

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