Tuesday 6 March 2012

Daily Exercise & Blood Sugar Spikes - Links to Chronic Disease

Blood sugar levels spiking after a meal are well known. They are also linked to Type 2 diabetes & the development of heart disease or obesity. But even bouts of inactivity in physically active individuals sees a change that an spiral into chronicity.
A recent Missouri study of participants ( Mikus et al 2012-see below)  fitted with glucose monitoring devices looked at what happened if a group of people who exercised above average (using American Heart Association recommendations for 10,000 steps, or around 5 miles a day) were essentially made sedentary and denied their daily exercise totals  (down to average 4300 steps or 3 minutes of exercise per day). Meanwhile their food intake & meals were exactly the same for the first stage of the test when they spent three standard days of normal exercise.


Throughout the trials, their exercise was tracked, food intake assessed via diaries, & blood sugar tested in 30 minute intervals after eating.


During the inactive days, blood sugar levels were seen to spike after meals by 26%, increasing each successive day leading the researchers to suggest that this would seem to be a direct result of their reduced activity. 


These spikes are often seen in injury states where muscles require less fuel, and draw less of the 'sugar' from the blood: they can also return to normal levels quickly as seen in animal as well as human studies on return to activity.


In prolonged inactivity situations however, this is not the case, whereapon there are physiological conditions clearly occuring causing chronic disease such as those the of the heart, and diabetes.


As the study  indicates, daily physical activity is an important mediator of glycaemic control & can assist in the prevention of pathologies and chronic diseases.


Medicine and Science in Sport & Exercise 2012 Feb;44(2):225-31.

1 comment:

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