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If you are seeking ways to include more exercise and physical activity into your everyday routine, walking is a great way to start.
Here, we will demonstrate the benefits of walking for those with diabetes as well as explain how to better manage your diabetes while you are on the move.
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Benefits Of Walking For Those With Diabetes
When you have a chronic disease such as diabetes, moving more can make a significant difference to how you feel and your overall diabetes management plan. Therefore, regardless of the type of diabetes that you may have (Type 1, Type 2, etc.), walking is a great way to get physically active as well as inculcate movement into your everyday routine.
This is because:
- You can choose a location and time of your choice for walking, besides being absolutely free.
- Brisk walking can help in building stamina, burning excess calories, and keeping your heart healthy.
- Walking can help your body to use insulin in a far more efficient manner.
- It is easy on the joints of your body.
- It is a great way to improve mental health, by reducing stress levels and the symptoms of anxiety and depression.
- It can help in improving the quality of your sleep.
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Other highlights when it comes to walking include:
- Walking improves blood glucose control in those with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
- Supervised walking training is preferable, whenever possible.
- The surface of walking along with its slope will have a direct effect on the cost of locomotion and must be considered.
- Interval walking may be prescribed in younger and physically fit individuals.
- Short bouts of brisk walking to break prolonged sedentary times have more favourable effects.
Tips To Get Started With Daily Walking With Diabetes
Whether you are new to walking or seeking ways to boost your current physical-activity levels, setting realistic goals for yourself is the ideal way to begin.
You may also find it extremely useful to set aside a specific time during the day or week to go walking – morning, evening, or lunch break. This can help you in keeping on track because you do not need to think about fitting walking into each day; it can become an integral part of your daily routine.
If you are worried about maintaining motivational levels, you may opt for a music playlist, radio show, or a popular podcast series to listen to while walking. These activities can help you in staying engaged and making the time tick faster. Your walks may additionally be your ideal time to check in with your loved ones over the phone or catch up with friends and relatives.
Lastly, if you wish to start off with something easier, you may give a shot to walking in your very own home. Walking is an exercise that can be performed while you are cooking in the kitchen or watching a movie or favourite programme on your television.
Walking and Diabetes Management
Walking is by far the most ancestral form of physical activity that can be easily incorporated in your daily life. It could represent, in several patients, a first and simple step towards executing lifestyle changes.
According to a study in postmenopausal women at a high risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, both standing as well as walking acutely reduce postprandial glucose levels, insulin levels, and non-esterified fatty acid response in comparison with prolonged sitting, successfully indicating that standing up and walking may be enough to improve the metabolic profile in those individuals who live a sedentary lifestyle.
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On a Final Note:
Regular exercise is a cornerstone when it comes to successful management of type 2 diabetes mellitus. One of the best ways to exercise is brisk walking, which helps in improving glucose control and cardiovascular risk factors, contributing to weight loss, and improving general wellbeing, and playing a significant role when it comes to preventing chronic complications of diabetes. That said, compliance to certain exercise recommendations is quite inadequate in those with diabetes. Walking is considered to be the most ancestral form of physical activity in human beings, easily applicable when it comes to daily life. In numerous patients, it is the first simple step towards making key lifestyle changes.
