Blood sugar rises after meals, whether you have diabetes or not. A new study shows, however, that walking after eating can have a significant effect on moderating blood sugar rise. Researchers recruited 12 people with type 1 diabetes and a dozen healthy control subjects. Physical activity and blood glucose levels were carefully measured for a total of 216 meals. The volunteers were randomly assigned to rest quietly after one meal a day and to walk after the others. Postmeal blood sugar was approximately twice as high in healthy subjects who were sedentary after eating. The people with type 1 diabetes got even more benefit from their postprandial strolls. Their blood sugar was less than half as high. This very simple approach holds great promise for helping to control blood sugar.
[Diabetes Care, Dec. 2012]