Overview
When you eat carbohydrates, your pancreas releases insulin to move glucose from your blood into your cells. However, when skeletal muscles contract, they activate a second pathway. This pathway moves glucose directly into the cells.
When you absorb glucose without insulin, you reduce the maximum level of insulin in your blood after you eat. This helps your metabolism work better. It also reduces inflammation in your body and helps you control your blood sugar.
This exercise is not a solution for a bad diet. However, you can eat moderate amounts of food and do light exercise. This matches how the human body developed to work. Physical work moves the glucose from your food into your muscles.
Movement as a Metabolic Signal
Two simple exercises help muscle cells move glucose transporters (GLUT4) to the cell membrane. This process does not depend on a high level of insulin in the blood:
- Light Walking
- Slow Bodyweight Squats
Best Times for Exercise
- Before you eat (0 to 20 minutes): This prepares the blood vessels in your muscles. It also starts the calcium signals in the muscle cells.
- After you eat (10 to 20 minutes): This makes the highest number of glucose transporters available when the small intestine absorbs glucose.
CAUTION: Do not use too much effort. Too much exercise activates your sympathetic nervous system. This moves blood away from your digestive system and makes digestion difficult.
Exercise Instructions
- Walk before you eat: Walk slowly for 15 minutes before lunch. This action activates your leg muscles. It prepares these muscles to absorb glucose from your blood.
- Squats before you eat: Do 20 to 40 slow bodyweight squats when you prepare food. Monitor how your body feels. Your muscles must feel warm, but you must not sweat or breathe heavily.
- Walk after you eat: Walk slowly for 10 to 15 minutes soon after you eat. You can walk around your house. This coordinates glucose transport in your muscles with digestion in your stomach.
- Squats after you eat: Wait 10 minutes after you eat for digestion to start. Then do 20 to 30 slow squats. This moves the first large amount of glucose from your blood.
In all these exercises, you activate large muscles. This creates an area that is ready to absorb energy from digestion.
This exercise will not prevent the bad effects of eating too many carbohydrates. However, you can combine this light exercise with balanced meals. Balanced meals contain carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and fiber. This combination reduces the increase of glucose in your blood after you eat. It also helps control your HbA1c level and keeps your energy levels stable.
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