To Manage Diabetes, Take a Walk

Taking a brief walk after meals may help patients with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar more effectively, a new study found.

This small study, conducted by University of Otago, New Zealand, researchers, found that walking after eating may produce more blood sugar-lowering benefits than walking at other times of the day.

And the post-meal walks don't have to be lengthy, these researchers found. Walking for 10 minutes after each of the day's three meals appeared more effective at lowering blood sugar than walking for 30 minutes at any other time of the day.

Among the 41 study participants, blood sugar taken after eating dropped by 12 percent on average for the post-meal walkers than it did for the anytime walkers, these researchers found.

The study authors noted that blood sugar levels after meals are important measures for patients with type 2 diabetes to watch and try to control. In type 2 diabetes, the body does not respond to insulin the way it should or the body does not produce enough insulin, a hormone that helps maintains blood sugar. Unmanaged diabetes can lead to other serious health problems.

This study was published in the journal Diabetologia.

Grants from the University of Otago and the New Zealand Artificial Limb Service funded this research. Information on potential conflicts of interest was not available at the time of publication.