What you eat has an immediate effect on your blood sugar levels. However, your blood glucose isn’t only affected by the food you eat — your physical activity is, too. You can use exercise to lower blood sugar levels.
“Physical activity should be part of any healthy lifestyle and is especially important for people with diabetes,” says registered dietitian Kim Edwards, a diabetes educator at Beaufort Memorial. “With exercise, you increase your insulin sensitivity and lower your blood glucose levels. A single exercise session can give you these health benefits for more than 24 hours.”
To reap these rewards, choose your exercise wisely.
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How Exercise Lowers Blood Sugar
Insulin hormone is responsible for managing how much glucose is in your blood. When you exercise, two things happen that affect your blood sugar levels. Your body burns blood sugar and exercise helps insulin do its job better.
If you have diabetes, along with a healthy diet, you can use exercise to lower blood sugar.
As an added bonus, regular exercise provides other health benefits, including:
- Improved control over your weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels
- Lower risk of heart disease, stroke, certain cancers and other dangerous health conditions
- Increased strength, endurance, confidence, balance and muscle mass
What Exercises Help Manage Glucose Levels
Whether or not you have diabetes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at least 150 minutes of exercise weekly. If you plan to use exercise to lower blood sugar, you need about 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week.
Focus on moderate-intensity exercises and activities that work your body’s biggest muscles in your buttocks, legs and chest.
Good activities and exercises to lower blood sugar include:
- Cutting grass, cleaning your house or doing other work around the house
- Dancing
- Playing sports or active hobbies
- Riding a bicycle
- Swimming laps or treading in a pool
- Walking at a brisk pace
“As you work out, it’s good to push yourself,” says Edwards. “Work hard enough so that your heart rate goes up and you breathe harder than normal.”
Just be careful not to overdo it. Stretch and warm up to reduce your risk of injury.
When Exercise Raises Blood Sugar
Though most physical activities lower your blood glucose, some do the opposite. Go too hard in the gym, and you may raise your blood sugar, according to the American Diabetes Association. A blood pressure increase may happen most often with high-intensity exercises, such as:
- Lifting heavy weights
- Participating in fast-paced, competitive sports
- Sprinting
When you force your body to perform its best in a stressful situation, your body produces adrenaline. This hormone helps if you’re trying to lift heavy weights or outrun the competition. When you’re trying to manage diabetes, it can cause problems.
“Adrenaline encourages the liver to release more glucose into your bloodstream,” says Edwards. “As a result, your blood sugar levels may spike during vigorous exercise.”
That doesn’t rule out sports altogether. Rather, Edwards recommends checking with your primary care provider before starting an intense form of exercise. Such high-intensity exercise may be safe, but you need to understand how it affects your blood sugar and how to prevent complications of diabetes.
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Exercising Safely With Diabetes
To ensure exercise lowers your blood sugar, stick with moderate-intensity activities. Resistance training, such as weightlifting, is safe. Just don’t go with the heaviest weights you can find. Instead, lift lighter weights for more repetitions.
No matter what you do, keep tabs on your blood sugar levels. Maintaining healthy levels is especially important when you’re starting a new activity or getting back into exercise after a long time.
Watching your blood sugar levels includes:
- Checking your blood sugar levels before, during and after exercise
- Writing down your blood sugar levels
- Monitoring and noting what you eat, when you eat and any time you take insulin or other medication
Everyone's bodies respond differently to exercise. Monitoring blood glucose levels teaches you how exercise affects your blood glucose levels.
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When Exercise Works Too Well on Glucose Levels
In some cases, exercise lowers your blood glucose too much. A blood glucose deficiency is referred to as hypoglycemia. Symptoms of low blood sugar include feeling hungry, nauseated, lightheaded or confused. Additionally, your vision may blur or you may get a headache or seizures. If hypoglycemia is left untreated, serious complications can develop.
Monitoring your blood sugar levels helps reduce your risk for hypoglycemia. If you suspect your blood sugar is dropping dangerously low while exercising, follow the 15/15 rule.
- When you feel symptoms of low blood sugar, stop what you’re doing and check your glucose levels. Your blood sugar should always be above 100 mg/dL.
- If your blood sugar level drops 100 mg/dL or lower, eat or drink 15 grams of carbohydrates. You can get this many carbs by drinking half a cup of juice or consuming a tablespoon of honey or sugar.
- Wait 15 minutes. As you wait for your blood sugar to improve, rest and give your body time to recover.
- Check your blood glucose levels again.
- Repeat steps one through four until your blood glucose level reaches above 100 mg/dL. Once it does, you can safely return to physical activity.
“Your health provider is your advocate who can help you use food, medication and exercise to lower blood sugar levels,” says Edwards. “Together, you and your provider can create a plan that fits your lifestyle to keep your blood sugar steady while you’re exercising, working or relaxing at home.”
At Beaufort Memorial, our diabetes care and treatment programs connect you to experts who help you manage diabetes through diet, exercise, medication and more.