Is Walking Good for People With Diabetes

Diabetes seems to have painted a bad picture in the minds of most people. But because of how common diabetes has become, its true definition has been somehow lost in the minds of most people. So, let's dig a little deeper into this topic. We can term diabetes as chronic health that affects how our body turns food into energy. Diabetes restricts how much insulin our body can make or how much insulin our body can use to function properly. Let's now focus on a healthy practice, walking.

Benefits

• Being active and having a regular habit of walking can help prevent or reverse prediabetes and insulin resistance.
• Helps us burn calories allowing us to keep our weight in check.
• A brisk morning or evening walk helps you to build your stamina and thereby making your heart healthier.
• Walking also helps you to improve your sleep and reduces stress.
• It helps the body to use insulin more efficiently and effectively.
• Helps us reduce fat around your abdomen, this allows the cells to have better access to insulin, and thus the blood sugar level is regulated.

Getting Started

You have to give a light start irrespective of what you are doing. Be it yoga or walking, while opting to include it in your daily routine, you should set a realistic goal. Setting a time apart each day or certain days of the week be it in the morning, afternoon, or evening is always a better idea. Now the consistency might lack as the days roll by, so you can use music to raise the bars. Not only just music, but any sort of audio, podcasts or even radio is of great use to keep you motivated. Some people find it difficult to go out for a walk, so why not begin it right on the spot, at your home? While reading a book, talking to someone on the phone, you can always do it. So, do it regularly and keep a track of it.

Bottomline

Diabetes left alone without careful management can lead to the building up of sugar levels in the blood, thereby enhancing the chances of different serious complications such as various heart problems or even strokes. There are different types of diabetes and to keep it checked, one needs to manage it efficiently based on the type. Although a particularly effective cure for diabetes hasn't yet been found, keeping up with a healthy diet, and being active can prove to be very useful methods to tackle diabetes. While many might find it difficult to choose between yoga and walking, the combination of both is probably the best solution to the ongoing debates as to win the chart for being a healthier method for diabetes. People diagnosed with diabetes, are advised not to take it as a light issue, maintain their health care appointments and most importantly, self-care is a given to reduce the impact of diabetes on your day-to-day life.

FAQs

1. How much walking is best for diabetes control?

30 minutes walk for 5 days every week is highly recommended for individuals with diabetes.

2. Does walking reduce type 2 diabetes?

Yes, walking helps in reducing type 2 diabetes. With type 2, the blood sugar goes high in the body, and light exercises such as walking help you lower it. 

3. When is the best time to walk for diabetes?

Researchers have observed that going for an evening post-meal walk proves to be the most effective as it regulates the blood sugar level for a whole day. So, go for an afternoon/ evening walk and keep your diabetes in control.

4. How much should a person diagnosed with diabetes walk a day?

It is always a wiser decision to go for a post-meal walk, twice or thrice a day. Because that proves to be more effective at reducing the blood sugar level of the body.