People with diabetes can limit the impact of the condition simply by walking for an extra 45 minutes a day, according to scientists who found exercise helped to keep blood sugar levels in check.
Scientists at Newcastle University in northern England studied people with late-onset, or type 2, diabetes. They found that walking improved their bodies’ ability to store sugar and burn fat, which, after a few weeks, reduced the effects of diabetes.
In Britain more than 2,3-million people have diabetes. About 90% of them have the type 2 form, which is linked to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. If left untreated it can lead to blood-vessel damage which triggers heart disease and strokes and can require patients to have limbs amputated.
“This gives people an immediate way to help control diabetes without any additional drugs. It’s a simple message,” said Michael Trenell, whose study appears in the journal Diabetes Care.
Trenell’s team used MRI scanners to measure how efficiently 20 volunteers, 10 of whom had type 2 diabetes, burned energy in their leg muscles before and after taking part in the eight-week trial. Each volunteer was given a pedometer and asked to walk more than 10 000 steps a day. On average, people take about 6 000 steps during their daily routine. The scans revealed that by being more active, diabetics burned 20% more fat and were able to store more sugar in their muscles .
“People often find the thought of going to the gym quite daunting, but we’ve found that nearly everyone with diabetes is able to become more active through walking.” —