Diabetes

Did you know that Diabetes is Australia’s fastest growing condition with 1 in 4 adults in Australia living with either diabetes or pre-diabetes. At present there are over 1.3 million Australians living with diabetes and there are approximately 500,000 undiagnosed diabetes cases. Type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes are chronic conditions in which the body is unable sufficiently regulate blood glucose levels. Over the long-term diabetes can impact a person’s health and well-being significantly and can lead to diabetes related complications such as macrovascular and microvascular problems and can lead to organ failure. There are several management strategies which can reduce the risk of these complications over the long-term which include, lifestyle modifications such as healthy eating, being physically active and pharmacological interventions. Healthy eating and physical activity are the cornerstones of diabetes management. It is imperative to establish regular healthy eating and physical activity habits. The recommended Australian Physical Activity guidelines suggest a minimum of 150 minutes per week of aerobic exercise and 2 non-consecutive days of resistance training. Aerobic and resistance training elicit greater blood glucose control than aerobic exercise alone. Regular and consistent exercise can aid in weight loss due to counterbalancing energy intake and expenditure, improve insulin resistance, improve lipid profiles, reduce cardiovascular related risk factors, reduce blood glucose levels as the GLUT-4 transporter activity increases with exercise meaning the glucose is used by the working muscles.

 The safe blood glucose ranges for exercise are between 5.5mmol/L-15mmol/L depending on medication and the type of diabetes. Different activities and exercises can affect blood glucose levels differently. If you are unsure of how exercise may affect your blood glucose levels in the short and long term, guidance by an accredited exercise physiologist or diabetes educator should be undertaken prior to engaging in exercise.