Effects of Exercise for Diabetics

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. - Dec. 3, 2014 - PRLog -- Exercise and Diabetes: What You Need To Know

A regular exercise routine can be invaluable for controlling blood sugar and stopping diabetes' harmful effects. There are special concerns for diabetics when it comes to exercise however. The high energy demands of exercise create a huge need for available blood sugar. This causes your liver to churn large amounts of glucose into the bloodstream to be accessible for your exercising muscles. Without adequate insulin in the bloodstream though, this glucose is inaccessible to your muscles and your blood sugar can become dangerously high. This is why glucose readings can become very high after exercise in diabetics.

Ketones are another important concern when it comes to exercising with diabetes. Ketones are produced when your body doesn’t have enough blood sugar to burn and is forced to breakdown fat as an energy source. If ketone levels become too high, this can alter the PH levels of your blood, resulting in ketoacidosis which is a medical emergency. That is why you should not exercise if ketones are present. Even if blood sugar is very high, ketones can still be produced if insulin levels are not sufficient to allow your body to access the circulating glucose.

Here are some things for diabetics to keep in mind when it comes to exercise:

Check blood glucose levels before and after exercise. Do not exercise if blood sugar is low (below 100 mg/dL). Eat something and test again. If your blood sugar reading is high, above 250 mg/dL, test for ketones. Do not exercise if your blood sugar is high and ketones are present. This can result in ketoacidosis, a dangerous medical condition.

If your blood sugar is above 300 mg/dL, do not exercise, wait for it to drop to a safe level. Optimal levels for exercising are 100 to 250 mg/dL.
Check your blood sugar levels after exercise, if they are low, eat a balanced snack and test again. If blood glucose is high, follow your doctor's instructions for appropriately managing high blood sugar and test again.

Functional Fitness Diabetes DVD, designed especially for people with diabetes and reviewed by About.com states:

"This DVD and Suzanne Andrews are darling, and that is not a word I use very often. It is very user-friendly, simple, and straight forward. I like that the workouts are short and easy so they are easy to fit into daily life yet the results should be significant if done regularly." The Suzanne Andrews diabetes DVD features two workouts designed espeically for diabetes and is available at http://www.healthwiseexercise.com