Dr. Sheri's Blog on Exercise and Diabetes

What I Wish Someone Had Told Me…

Sheri Colberg PhD — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:36:07 +0000

…about Exercise and Diabetes. (A version of this article appeared on the DiabetesMine.com blog by Amy Tenderich in late July 2008.)

Even though I have been living with diabetes since I was four years old (in 1968), I knew even back then—more than a decade before the era of home blood glucose monitoring began—that exercise did good things for my blood sugars. How could I tell without a meter? (more…)

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Secret # 30: Maintain Your Weight

Sheri Colberg PhD — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 10:13:00 +0000

Secret #30 is excerpted from Part Five: Exercise Secrets found in my new book about what has worked well for long-time diabetes survivors: 50 Secrets of the Longest Living People with Diabetes by Sheri Colberg, PhD, and Steven V. Edelman, MD (November 2007). Check my Web site (www.shericolberg.com) for more details or to order this book online.

Excess body weight is associated with a greater risk of many health problems, and even though it may not be the direct cause of all of them, losing body fat or maintaining your body weight are considered important goals, and exercise plays an important role in reaching these goals. (more…)

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Run a Marathon? Are You Crazy?

Sheri Colberg PhD — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:21:45 +0000

Given the burgeoning interest that the public at large appears to have with running that infamous 26.2 endurance race, it’s likely that other individuals with type 1 and type 2 diabetes will “hear the call” and decide to train for one. That’s exactly what happened to (more…)

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Secret # 29: Compete with Yourself

Sheri Colberg PhD — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:10:20 +0000

Secret #29 is excerpted from Part Five: Exercise Secrets found in my new book about what has worked well for long-time diabetes survivors: 50 Secrets of the Longest Living People with Diabetes by Sheri Colberg, PhD, and Steven V. Edelman, MD (November 2007). Check my Web site (www.shericolberg.com) for more details or to order this book online.

Until a recent back injury forced him out of the water for a while, Al Lewis, living well with diabetes for over 70 years, was a competitive master’s swimmer, and athletics have played a major role in doing well with diabetes for all those years. Even at the age of 74, he feels it’s important to be very competitive with yourself. (more…)

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Secret # 28: Erase Your Mistakes with Exercise

Sheri Colberg PhD — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:05:12 +0000

Secret #28 is excerpted from Part Five: Exercise Secrets found in my new book about what has worked well for long-time diabetes survivors: 50 Secrets of the Longest Living People with Diabetes by Sheri Colberg, PhD, and Steven V. Edelman, MD (November 2007). Check my Web site (www.shericolberg.com) for more details or to order this book online.

Although your muscles account for only about 40 percent of your body weight, they can take up 80 percent of any glucose load that you get through your carb intake. Thus, by enhancing the muscles’ capacity to take up glucose with or without insulin, exercise comes closer than anything else to (more…)

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Secret #27: Make It Strenuous (Repeated)

Sheri Colberg PhD — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:25:29 +0000

Secret #27 is excerpted from Part Five: Exercise Secrets found in my new book about what has worked well for long-time diabetes survivors: 50 Secrets of the Longest Living People with Diabetes by Sheri Colberg, PhD, and Steven V. Edelman, MD (available November 2007). Check my Web site (www.shericolberg.com) for more details or to order this book online.

There are certain benefits to be had from doing more intense exercise that some old-timers have recognized. Increasing exercise intensity even briefly works for everyone. For instance, in one study, unfit men and women in their thirties and forties experienced major gains in their aerobic capacity by doing a total of only six to eight minutes of harder exercise a week. Such results explain the sudden interest in (more…)

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To Pedometer or Not to Pedometer…

Sheri Colberg PhD — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:02:58 +0000

Probably the best argument for wearing a pedometer is that it has a strong motivational effect. If you have a goal set for each day (such as 10,000 or more steps), and you get near the end of the day and see you only have amassed 5,000, you’re more likely to (more…)

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Secret # 26: Live an Active Life

Sheri Colberg PhD — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:59:39 +0000

Secret #26 is excerpted from Part Five: Exercise Secrets found in my new book about what has worked well for long-time diabetes survivors: 50 Secrets of the Longest Living People with Diabetes by Sheri Colberg, PhD, and Steven V. Edelman, MD (November 2007). Check my Web site (www.shericolberg.com) for more details or to order this book online.

When it comes right down to it, how long you’re physically active each day is likely more important than what you do. According to recent studies, participating in close to three hours (170 minutes) of exercise per week at any intensity (i.e., easy, moderate, or hard) improves (more…)

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Secret # 25: Exercise Daily (or Close to It)

Sheri Colberg PhD — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:54:00 +0000

Secret #25 is excerpted from Part Five: Exercise Secrets found in my new book about what has worked well for long-time diabetes survivors: 50 Secrets of the Longest Living People with Diabetes by Sheri Colberg, PhD, and Steven V. Edelman, MD (November 2007). Check my Web site (www.shericolberg.com) for more details or to order this book online.

Of all the secrets to being successful at living long and well with diabetes, exercise is the one that came up the most consistently as one of the top ones, regardless of how long people had been living with the disease. Given that physical activity can cause low blood sugars —both during and afterward, with a delayed effect— you would think that fewer people would find it important for glycemic control, (more…)

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Sugar Alcohols and Artificial Sweeteners

Sheri Colberg PhD — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:22:50 +0000

Sugar alcohols are often promoted as being sugar alternatives, but products containing them are never “free” foods. Sorbitol and mannitol (and others that end in “ol”) are either (more…)

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