10 Super Human Powers You'll Get with Exercise
Superpower: The ability to withstand a sugar bomb
We could probably all stand to pass on the dessert menu a little more often. Yet when you do indulge, exercise makes a darn good suit of armor. Working out in the morning could buy you hours of protection against the stiffening of blood vessels typically caused by sugary snacks, finds a study from the Washington University School of Medicine. When scientists gave exercisers a candy bar and soda a full 17 hours after an hour-long workout, their vessels pumped 28 percent more blood than subjects who got the sweet stuff without sweating first.
And that’s not the only sugar exercise helps to control. Regular physical activity also helps regulate blood sugar and also helps to delay or prevent diabetes in those who are at risk. A University of Michigan study found that prediabetic adults who walked one hour per day for a week put a dent in their symptoms, improving their insulin sensitivity by 53 percent.
How it works: Researchers suspect that exercise improves blood sugar regulation, another reason it can also help to delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes, and slow the progression once diabetes has been diagnosed. Exercise helps blood sugar in two ways: It improves both your body’s production of insulin and its sensitivity to insulin.
Reviewed by Joseph Sclafani, MD on December 9, 2013
Sources
https://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/exercise.html/#physicalexercise
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21722657
https://web.mit.edu/murj/www/v14/v14-Features/v14-f2.pdf
https://www.lancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(05)70203-9/fulltext
https://www.mayoclinic.org/news2011-rst/6432.html
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199908263410904#t=articleTop
https://circ.ahajournals.org/content/109/11/1371.long
https://www.umm.edu/patiented/articles/what_effects_of_exercise_on_heart_circulation_000029_3.htm
https://www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/kids/healthy_joints.asp
https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/pa_overview.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1906812/ https://www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/knee_problems/Default.asp
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15986358
https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7212698.stm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2728793/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2585377/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2901048/
https://jcem.endojournals.org/content/93/2/387.long
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18277063
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2077351/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2745102/
https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/exercise-stress.aspx
https://www.prevention-digital.com/prevention/200907?pg=67#pg67
https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression-and-exercise/MH00043
https://today.duke.edu/2000/09/exercise922.html
https://www.ejhs.org/volume7/fitness.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17447865
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18019884
https://www.prevention.com/node/24810
https://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/13/health/he-exercise13
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12959703
https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/health/index.html
https://archive.news.iastate.edu/news/2011/oct/exerciseflu
https://www.acefitness.org/fitfacts/fitfacts_display.aspx?itemid=2613
https://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/exercise.html/#physicalexercise
web.mit.edu/murj/www/v14/v14-Features/v14-f2.pdf
https://www.mayoclinic.org/news2011-rst/6432.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21722657
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15007010?dopt=Abstract
https://www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/kids/healthy_joints.asp
https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/pa_overview.htm
https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7212698.stm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2585377/
https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression-and-exercise/MH00043
https://today.duke.edu/2000/09/exercise922.html
https://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/13/health/he-exercise13
Lynn A. Anderson, Ph.D. Sex Matters So...Get Sexually Healthy the Natural Way. © 2010 Lynn A. Anderson.