Can exercise lower blood sugar?
Yes, exercise lowers blood sugar, and it does so in two ways. During movement your muscles pull sugar from the blood without needing insulin, which is why a 10 to 15 minute walk after meals visibly flattens the after-eating spike. It is one of the cheapest tricks in metabolic health.
Regular training also makes your body more sensitive to its own insulin for a day or two after each session, and strength work adds muscle, which is where sugar gets stored. For prediabetes, this is a large part of why lifestyle programs work.
If you take insulin or medicines that can cause lows, talk to your doctor about doses before big changes in activity, and carry fast sugar during exercise. For everyone else, the after-meal walk is the easiest place to start today.
Source: World Health Organization, physical activity fact sheet
See a doctor promptly if
- Excessive thirst, passing large amounts of urine, blurred vision or unexplained weight loss. These suggest blood sugar is already well above the prediabetes range
- Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, deep rapid breathing or a fruity smell on the breath: go to an emergency department
- A random blood glucose of 200 mg/dL (11.1 mmol/L) or higher, or a fasting glucose of 126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L) or higher
- New numbness, burning or pins and needles in both feet
- A wound on the foot that is not healing, or a skin or genital infection that keeps returning
Work out what your blood sugar meansneeds a meter, free, nothing to install
Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
If you are buying a meter
Any major-brand glucose meter is accurate enough for home tracking. The real cost is the strips, so compare strip prices before choosing the meter.
Buying through this link supports the free library with a small commission. It never changes a pick.
Want this built around you?
A doctor and a certified coach write a diet and fitness plan checked against your conditions and medicines.
People also ask
Health education, not medical advice.