rydabent

I have type 2 diabetes. I just got back from the doctors office. As with last year when I can bike my A1c goes down to near normal, 6.1. The doctor agrees with me that my biking about 30 miles every other day is the reason. Since I live in the snow belt, my Feb blood test comes out worse, about 6.8 or so.

Bottom line----------biking is better than pills.

Cone Wrench

Try cross-country skiing.

NOS88

For many conditions this is surely true. Glad to hear it's working for you.

alcanoe

Strenuous physical activity increases insulin sensitivity. The muscle cell stucture changes so that insulin is no longer needed for the glucose to transit the cell wall to replace glycogen. Therefore, insulin levels during strenuous endurance exercise can fall to fasting levels (as the insulin is no loner needed) and stay there for one or two days after the exercise stops.

Exercise can prevent and some times cure type 2, depending on other factors such as genetics and age.

Al

lhbernhardt

Yes, cycling definitely has health benefits. The only "problem" is you have to keep doing it every day for the rest of your life. But that's not such a bad thing, is it?

Luis

John E

Hey Luis,

Last week I took a business trip to Vancouver -- beautiful city! Unfortunately, we ended up working until 7 p.m. on Thursday and missed the customer's weekly assault on Grouse Grind. I have climbed Round Mound/Hill every day this week while vacationing in Zephyr Cove NV (south Lake Tahoe area), but that's not quite the same.

Exercise and sensible eating are indeed the fountain of youth.

Don in Austin

And dietary changes are better than pills. Are you attacking your diabetes on that level also?

Don in Austin

alcanoe

The problem with dietary change is that unless you have an obviously bad/extreem diet, it's difficult to determine how to change it. The trial data is just not there. What you have is population survey data (unreliable) and theories. You can literally pick and choose the surveys/theories and "prove" or “disprove” any of the current fads or the goodness/badness of about any food group.

The only claim on reduced risk of death for a diet I've ever seen is 50% for the so-called Med diet, but no data was provided. By the way, the Med diet is really the Crete diet when they were all farmers and fisherman and were tremendously active. Now they are mostly sedentary and have our diseases.
　
Physical activity however has reams of trial data. For example, using a standardized treadmill endurance test, the data shows that the population in the top quintile of fitness has 1/12 the risk of death from all causes compared to a sedentary population. The trial population was 43,000 followed/tested for years. And, that's just one trial.
　
For type-2, the only “officially” connected diet issues (for prevention) are transfats, possibly saturated fats and just plain over-eating/over-fatness. There is a very strong correlation however with lack of activity, genetics, age and over-fatness.

Al

gtragitt

I have had type II for about 20 yr. I took meds for 2 wks. My last HA1c was 5.5.

bobbycorno

...or snowshoeing: less technical, at least as aerobic.

SP
Bend, OR

TromboneAl

...or move.

seemunkee

Or speedskating

JanMM

Insulin resistance is not your friend.