Small walks to control diabetes

Just taking a short stroll after each meal is all seniors may need to do in order to lower their blood sugar levels and protect against diabetes. A small study at George Washington University demonstrated that taking 15-minute walks after meals was “significantly more effective” for lowering blood sugar than a longer walk at another time during the day. The research team recruited 10 healthy seniors age 60 and older who were at risk of type 2 diabetes because of high levels of fasting blood sugar and low levels of physical activity. During the study the participants walked on a treadmill at what the researchers described as an “easy to moderate pace”. They were assigned to walk at various times, including 15 minutes after each meal or for 45 minutes at 10:30 in the morning or 4:30 in the afternoon. The researchers reported that the walk most effective at controlling blood sugar was the one taken after the evening meal. The research team explained that the rise in blood sugar normally seen after dinner was “curbed significantly” as soon as the participants started to walk on the treadmill. The study was published on June 12, 2013 in Diabetes Care.

Dr. Ajay Sati.