Apr 13, 2021

Physical activity: benefits and harmful effects in case of diabetes

 While regular physical activity helps prevent the onset of many diseases, it is essential for all people with diabetes and plays an essential role in treatment, along with a balanced diet and medication. Studies show its many benefits, including improving blood sugar balance.



A global public health issue

The opportunities to be physically active are increasingly scarce as the prevalence of sedentary lifestyles increases in most countries, with serious consequences for health, sustainability and the economy. Faced with the widespread development of non-communicable diseases, a call to decision-makers around the world to make physical activity a health priority was materialized by the Toronto Charter for Physical Activity in 2010. Since 2012, inactivity physical has become the number one preventable cause of death in the world, responsible for more deaths than smoking.


Sedentary lifestyle, physical activity, sport ...

The practice of physical or sports activities contributes to the maintenance of health in healthy subjects (Ottawa Charter) and contributes to people living with a chronic non-communicable disease to improve the state of health and prevent complications related to the disease.


Some definitions to help you find your way:


Sedentary lifestyle: little or no physical activity with an energy expenditure close to zero. The time spent sitting or lying down while awake, between getting up and going to bed, is a good indicator. It must be less than 8 hours/day, taking into account all the activities during which we are seated (meals, travel, work, time spent in front of a screen).


Physical activity: all the bodily movements produced by the activation of the muscles and leading to an increase in energy expenditure above the resting metabolism. The WHO global recommendations are at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week.


Sport: the form of physical activity which, through organized or unorganized participation, aims to express or improve the physical and mental condition, develop social relations or obtain results in competition at all levels.


Physical activity and diabetes

One in two French people does not know that physical activity can prevent and treat many chronic diseases such as diabetes. Here are the findings of two studies that show that physical activity is truly a key component in managing diabetes:
When you are prediabetic, physical activity reduces the risk of becoming diabetic in the medium term (3 years) by about 50% and helps delay the onset of the disease.
When you are diabetic, practising at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week, combined with nutritional advice, lowers glycated haemoglobin by about 0.7% and reduces the risk of associated complications (retinopathy, nephropathy, heart attack and stroke).


Among its many benefits:


  1. improved insulin sensitivity and glycemic control;
  2. decreased risk of cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure;
  3. decrease in abdominal fat;
  4. decrease in bad cholesterol (LDL) levels;
  5. increased levels of good cholesterol (HDL);
  6. helps maintain or lose weight;
  7. decreased stress and anxiety;
  8. increased self-confidence and well-being;
  9. etc.


What are the recommendations?

  • In people with diabetes, physical activity is beneficial at any age. It is preferable to distribute the physical expenditure over the whole week by varying the type of effort (endurance and muscle building), the frequency, the duration and the nature of the activity practised.

  • World Health Organization recommends doing at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week or 30 minutes of brisk walking per day. This can be achieved once or more during the day for similar health benefits.

  • Regularity is important in participating in physical activity. The ideal is to do it every day. But you can supplement your daily 30-minute activity with more strenuous activity on the weekends.


  • If you resume physical activity, talk to your doctor or diabetologist in order to perform the aptitude tests necessary for safe practice.

What are the safety rules?

The fact remains that any physical or sporting activity is not without danger. Ask your doctor for advice before any plan to resume physical activity in order to have a health check. What matters is the fun, the consistency and the respect of a few simple rules. Those sent to you by your doctor, such as checking your blood sugar before, during and after exercise, to have sugar on you at all times; to adapt their diet and insulin doses according to the chosen activity, etc. And those of any physical exercise in general: warm-up well, gradually stop, hydrate, stretch.

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