Health Tip: Maintain Healthy Blood Sugar During Exercise
Exercise typically will lower blood sugar, since insulin is more effective during exercise. But in people with diabetes, too much of a reduction in blood sugar can be dangerous.
The University of Michigan Health System offers these suggestions for diabetics to maintain healthy blood sugar levels when exercising:
* Check your blood sugar before and after exercise -- and during if you can -- and record your results.
* If you are going to exercise strenuously, make sure you eat a meal first.
* Keep snacks -- especially some with sugar -- on hand when you exercise.
* Talk to your doctor about possibly adjusting your insulin dose for exercise.
* Don't inject insulin into a part of the body that will be strenuously used during exercise, as it will absorb more quickly. For example, if you will run, inject your abdomen instead of your leg.
Health Tip: Weight-Bearing Exercises Strengthen Bones
Getting plenty of calcium and vitamin D in your diet are great ways to ward off the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis. Weight-bearing exercises are another way to help maintain bone health.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons recommends these forms of weight-bearing exercise:
* Brisk walking, jogging or hiking.
* Strenuous yard work such as pushing a lawn mower, or active gardening.
* Sports such as soccer, basketball, baseball, tennis or racquetball.
* Climbing the stairs, step aerobics or dancing.
* Activities such as skiing, bowling, skating or karate.
* Use of free weights or weight machines.
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