How To Reverse The Effects Of Type 2 Diabetes

How To Reverse The Effects Of Type 2 Diabetes

SEPTEMBER 26, 2008 BY DOUGLAS ROBB 18 COMMENTS

Two new studies show how moderate exercise can:

• Counteract the effects of overeating,
• Reduce abnormal intra-muscular fat,
• Reduce the production of fat by-products
• Improve insulin sensitivity,
• Increase fat burning
• Reduce Fatty Liver by up to 40%, helping to prevent:
• Cirrhosis of the liver,
• Liver failure
• Liver transplantation
• Cancer
• Diabetes related heart disease

STUDY # 1

University of Michigan researchers studied five obese women over three separate two-day trials.

During these trials, the women alternated between:

1. Consuming a weight maintenance diet (Control diet)
2. Eating a diet 700 calories above maintenance
3. Eating a diet 700 calories above maintenance, but then burning off those 700 calories through exercise.

Results

The morning after the trial, the researchers tested the women and found that:

• overeating suppressed fat burning.
• exercising increased fat burning.
• Exercise increased insulin sensitivity.
• Exercise reduced fat by-products in the muscle

Conclusions

This study shows that even a single bout of exercise helps obese individuals increase their body’s fat-burning rate and improve their metabolic health.”

MRI scans of an obese subject with Metabolic Syndrome and a normal weight subject

STUDY #2

Johns Hopkins researchers studied seventy-seven diabetic men and women over a six month period.

During the study, half of the study participants were put through a moderate program of aerobic exercise consisting of 45-minute sessions three times a week. They could bicycle, run on a treadmill or take brisk walks. In addition, they lifted weights for about 20 minutes, three times a week,  at a moderate intensity. The other half of the participants were asked to avoid any formal aerobic fitness or gym classes.

Results

• MRI scans taken at the start and end of the study showed much lower levels of liver fat in the active group (5.6%), while levels remained the same in the non-exercising group (8.5%).
• The cardio-vascular systems of the exercisers were 13% more efficient than the non-exercisers.
• The exercisers were 7% stronger than the non-exercisers.
• The exercisers had 6% less body-fat than the non-exercisers
• The exercisers also lost weight and reduced their waistlines by an average of 2 inches.

Conclusions

According to the lead investigator, Kerry Stewart, Ed.D., “The benefits in improved fitness and fatness are clear, and physicians should really have all people with type 2 diabetes actively engaged in an exercise program.”

Stewart says his team’s next steps are to analyze the long-term effect of moderate exercise on diabetes and heart disease, including any improvements in heart and blood vessel structure and function, insulin resistance and arterial inflammation.

My Conclusion

How many more studies do we need, before we realize that if you want to be healthy, you NEED to exercise….Period.

For more info on these studies, check out ScienceDaily’s coverage here andhere.