In addition to diet, physical activity is very important for a patient with diabetes. More recently, there was an opinion among doctors that you can not play sports with diabetes, physical activity is contraindicated.
But, by the way, Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin had type 2 diabetes. In those days, diabetes was not yet treated with insulin, and doctors advised the great singer… to chop firewood before eating.
From the standpoint of modern medicine, this recommendation is correct. Trying to avoid the load is fraught with health problems, especially dangerous for a patient with diabetes. It is now known that the working muscle is able to utilize glucose. That is, physical activity, muscle contractions contribute to the utilization of glucose. There are data from studies on the prevention of diabetes in obese patients, and the percentage of such patients is now very high.
The study involved groups of patients who were engaged in physical education; patients who were only on a diet; patients on a diet with physical activity; patients with xenical; patients taking other medications. The study was conducted for 3-5 years. As a result, it turned out that the best indicators were in the group of patients who had a diet combined with physical activity.
A separate question – what should be the physical activity of a diabetic patient? How to control your motor activity? About people who” sit ” on insulin, you need to talk separately. This is a special conversation, because with type 1 diabetes and the use of insulin, physical activity is allowed only under the supervision of a doctor and under certain indications. There are also patients with severe concomitant diseases, in which much is contraindicated.
But people with type 2 diabetes who do not use insulin have more or less preserved health, normal blood pressure, and no coronary artery disease at the initial stage.
In this case, you can and should put yourself under physical stress, because motor activity for a diabetic is also a “pill”. But the load should be dosed, mainly aerobic. You don’t need to get carried away with exercise equipment, but walking, swimming and regular walks (at least half an hour a day) are quite suitable.
So those who abuse medicines are deeply mistaken. The strategy of “Give me any medicine, but allow me to eat sausages and drink beer after work” does not work! Of course, both physical activity and diet require strong-willed efforts from a person. As for the amount of physical activity, it all depends on the age. Ninety percent of patients with type 2 diabetes are obese, so physical activity should increase gradually. You can start with walking, then enter small stretches of jogging into the variable walking, and so on. Many patients with type 2 diabetes, who adequately perceive the doctor’s advice and begin to move, even if they initially took some medications, gradually refuse to use them! But for this you need to work hard.