What can older adults do to help keep their blood sugar in check after meals? Take a 15 minute walk. In a new study, researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services found that walking at an easy-to-moderate pace for just 15 minutes after eating can help lower blood sugar over a 24 hour period – just as much as walking for 45 minutes. “The muscle contractions connected with short walks were immediately effective in blunting the potentially damaging elevations in post-meal blood sugar commonly observed in older people,” says Loretta DiPietro, Ph.D., MPH, of George Washington University.
Researchers found that patients had the best blood sugar regulation after taking a 15 minute walk after dinner. Because evening meals are often the largest, this translates into a large spike in blood sugar levels lasting into the next morning. The walks appear to stop this big increase from occurring. The study, published in the journal Diabetes Care included participants who were 6o years and older. They were all healthy, but at risk for Type 2 diabetes because of lack of exercise, and had fasting blood sugar levels that were higher than normal….. huffingtonpost.com 6/19/13