Using Exercise to Reverse and Defeat Diabetes   

Exercise & Diabetes

Most people are aware that exercise is important, but many of us either do not like to exercise or have the time to exercise. To further compound matters, some people exercise incorrectly and for the wrong reasons. Consequently, people stop exercising after becoming bored, frustrated or discouraged due to the lack of progress in their health, weight loss or other health objective.

Actually, exercise may be the closest thing to a “fountain of youth”. By taking yourself from a sedentary state you can, in effect, reduce your biological age by ten to fifteen years. Researchers who have conducted extensive studies on fitness and mortality have concluded “moderate levels of physical fitness and exercise are protective against early mortality.” Exercise imparts vigor and activity to all organs and maintains the healthful integrity of all their functions by improving the tone and quality of muscle tissue and stimulating the processes of digestion, absorption, metabolism, and elimination.

Exercise also strengthens the blood vessels, lungs, and heart, resulting in improved transfer of oxygen to the cells and increased circulation of the vascular and lymph systems. In addition, studies indicate that physical activity promotes the growth of mitochondria (the cell “energy factories”), leading to increased adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the molecule that transfers energy between living cells; and, this increase in cellular energy can trigger fat burning.

Years ago, the physical activity from farming, steel mills and other labor industries served many purposes, including stress reduction, removal of food congestion and toxins, and the slow down of the aging process. But, when our society shifted from this industrial state to more of a service state (office work, computers), our level of physical activity and our children’s level of physical activity decreased dramatically.

According to Mark Fenton (the walking guru), “We are living in an epidemic of physical inactivity and improper nutrition.” Interestingly, exercise is a form of physical activity that was “created” to address this loss of physical activity. It was discovered that the loss of physical activity led to early deterioration of the body and its parts, and eventually degenerative diseases/ailments such as backaches, constipation, headaches, chronic fatigue, high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, arthritis and osteoporosis.

In general, aerobic exercise is important for improving your cardiovascular health. However, anaerobic exercise (weight-resistance training) as part of a circuit-training regimen that includes aerobics is the optimum form of exercise that provides the maximum health benefit. Unfortunately, many people overdo the aerobic exercising to try to lose weight, and they end up losing lean muscle tissue, which lowers their metabolism rate, making it even more difficult to lose weight.

But, if you have been living a sedentary lifestyle, walking is the easiest form of exercise to get your body acclimated to moving again. You will need to initiate a gradual training regimen to prevent any unwanted injuries that many beginners experience due to their overcompensating for not exercising in years. Consistency and low-to-moderate intensity exercise are the ways to introduce your body to exercise and fun; and, you can grow from there by finding other forms of exercise (e.g. gardening, sports, bicycling, skiing, swimming, dancing, trampoline jumping) that you may enjoy and actually not see as just exercise. 

Types of Exercise

There are three major types of exercise: stretching, aerobic, and anaerobic.

Stretching Exercise

Stretching exercise is performed to passively or actively elongate soft tissue and muscles to improve the range of motion (ROM), reduce unnecessary muscle strains and tears, and provide flexibility. Exercise examples include: light stretching, inversion table, yoga, and Pilates.

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic means oxygen. Aerobic exercise is continuous rhythmic movement of the major muscles groups without intermittent rest periods such that the muscles are working in an oxygen-rich state, which can cause the body to produce fat-burning enzymes under the right circumstances, e.g. after your body has burned off most of the glucose. Examples of aerobic exercise include: walking, step aerobics, running, swimming, other water exercises, bicycling, dancing, skiing, jumping, cardio kick-boxing, and rowing.

Anaerobic Exercise

Anaerobic means lack of oxygen. Anaerobic exercise consists of short bursts of body movements with some resistance such that the muscles are working in an oxygen-deprived state, which causes the body to produce glucose-burning enzymes. Because you are expending energy faster than the body can replace it by metabolizing oxygen, intermittent rest periods are required during the exercise session. Anaerobic exercise puts the body into an anabolic state that builds lean muscle tissue and burns fat. Muscles that are already conditioned rely less on glycogen (stored glucose) and more on fat for fuel, so the muscles of a trained individual burn more body fat than those of people who do not exercise. Examples of anaerobic exercise include: weight/resistance training, interval strength training, water exercise, and weight lifting.

Benefits of Exercise

Beyond reducing your biological age, there are many physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits associated with exercise.

Stretching Exercise

• Increases blood flow to muscles to prepare them for exercise.
  
• Improves ability of muscles to stretch and elongate (to increase range of motion) and develop functional mobility.
  
• Increases muscle tone and firmness.
  
• Increases balance and coordination.
  
• Increases metabolism.
  

Aerobic Exercise

• Improves cardiovascular endurance, strengthens the heart and bones.
  
• Increases oxygen intake, due to more deeply breathing causing oxygen to be received fully into the lungs and, into the blood stream. Makes the lungs better conditioned so that activities (e.g. climbing stairs) will not leave you breathless.
  
• Helps the lymphatic fluids to drain and circulate properly to increase immunity.
  
• Promotes sweating which helps to detoxify the body via the skin.
  
• Stimulates the immune system, putting more white blood cells including T-helper cells (made in the thymus gland) and macrophages (from arterial walls) into circulation.
  
• Helps to lower the total cholesterol, and, may increase the HDL (good) cholesterol, lowering the risk of heart disease.
  
• Helps to lower blood pressure by increasing the production of nitric oxide, which relaxes the artery walls.
  
• Helps to release enzymes (e.g. hormone-sensitive lipase) to mobilize fat in adipose tissue
  
• Helps to increase insulin sensitivity so that glucose enters the cells and is burned as fuel.
  
• Helps to trigger the release of brain chemicals called endorphins that help improve mood, relieve stress and make you more productive.
  

Anaerobic Exercise

• Multiplies muscle strength, tone, and firmness.
  
• Helps tone the body by increasing muscle strength while burning fat.
  
• Reduces belly fat; also, reduces body fat, re-shaping the body.
  
• Develops strength of tendons and ligaments.
  
• Increases bone density and strength.
  
• Increases metabolism and intensifies fat loss (especially belly fat).
  
• Makes muscle cells more sensitive to insulin, increasing the uptake of glucose into the muscle cells to provide more energy.
  
• Boosts stamina, energy, and endurance.
  
• Develops functional mobility to improve day-to-day quality of life.
  
• Increases balance and coordination.
  
• Enhances mental clarity; improves attitude.

Note: For more details, read Chapter 10 of the Death to Diabetes book or get the Exercise PDF.

Exercising with Arthritic Pain

First of all, make certain that you are following a plant-based nutritional program that includes anti-inflammatory and antioxidant-rich foods.

Though you might think exercise will aggravate your joint pain and stiffness, that's not the case. Lack of exercise actually can make your joints even more painful and stiff. That's because keeping your muscles and surrounding tissue strong is crucial to maintaining support for your bones. Not exercising weakens those supporting muscles, creating more stress on your joints.

Your doctor or physical therapist can recommend exercises that are best for you, which might include:

Range-of-motion exercises
These exercises relieve stiffness and increase your ability to move your joints through their full range of motion. Range-of-motion exercises involve moving your joints through their normal range of movement, such as raising your arms over your head or rolling your shoulders forward and backward. These exercises can be done daily or at least every other day.

Strengthening exercises
These exercises help you build strong muscles that help support and protect your joints. Weight training is an example of a strengthening exercise that can help you maintain your current muscle strength or increase it. Do your strengthening exercises every other day — but take an extra day off if your joints are painful or if you notice any swelling.

Other activities
Any movement, no matter how small, can help. If a particular workout or activity appeals to you, don't hesitate to ask your doctor whether it's right for you. Your doctor might give you the OK to try gentle forms of yoga and Tai chi. Tai chi may improve balance and help prevent falls. Be sure to tell your instructor about your condition and avoid positions or movements that can cause pain.

Tips to protect your joints
Start slowly to ease your joints into exercise if you haven't been active for a while. If you push yourself too hard, you can overwork your muscles. This aggravates your joint pain.

Consider these tips as you get started:

Trust your instincts and don't exert more energy than you think your joints can handle. Take it easy and slowly work your exercise length and intensity up as you progress.

You might notice some pain after you exercise if you haven't been active for a while. In general, if your pain lasts longer than two hours after you exercise, you were probably exercising too strenuously. Talk to your doctor about what pain is normal and what pain is a sign of something more serious.

Note: If you have rheumatoid arthritis, ask your doctor if you should exercise during general or local flares. One option is to work through your joint flares by doing only range-of-motion exercises, just to keep your body moving.