The Mindful Minute - Got Diabetes? Let's Move - Part 1

Got diabetes? You need consistent movement in your life. In a small Study of 24 sedentary overweight and obese men and women with controlled type 2 diabetes, subjects were divided into three groups - sitting, light intensity walking, and simple resistance activities. The authors compared blood glucose, the blood glucose regulator insulin, C-peptide (released along with insulin from the pancreas), and triglycerides (high levels of this fat in your blood increase heart disease) in each group.Results - All measures were lower in the walking and resistance groups compared to sitting. Why? Contracting muscles use energy.Recommendations -  3 minutes every 30 minutes of walking (2 miles per hour pace) or 3 minutes every 30 minutes of 1/2 squats, calf-raises, gluteal contractions, and knee raises.Let’s practice 1/2 squats - Stand in mountain pose. Stand in front of a sturdy chair without wheels).  Place a yoga block or similar sized soft ball between your thighs. Exhale, and send your hips back toward the chair with your weight in your heels and squeezing your thighs, buttocks, and abdominal muscles and keeping your upper body long from tailbone to crown of your head while you hover 1/2 way over the seat. Inhale to stand. Repeat several times. Once you get the hang of it and your are confident in your form,  you can practice without the props.Go to the show notes to read that article and another on the ADA’s recommendations on diabetes and exercise. We did calf raises in a previous Mindful Minute. We will do knee raises in the next episode.Take Home Message - Perform frequent low level physical activity to break up sitting.RESOURCES:Benefits for Type 2 Diabetes of Interrupting Prolonged Sitting With Brief Bouts of Light Walking or Simple Resistance Activities by Dempsey et al., June 2016Physical Activity/Exercise and Diabetes: A Position Statement of the American Diabetes Association by Colberg et al, Nov 2016