Discover 8 ways that exercise can help diabetes

It's no secret that regular exercise can significantly improve the symptoms of diabetes, but you may be surprised at just how many different benefits there are. We'll go over 8 reasons to add more movement to your day.

• Putting your muscles into action is like hitting your car's accelerator: it instantly boosts the demand for fuel. In your body's case, this means glucose rather than gasoline.
• Once your muscles exhaust their own supply of glucose, they clean out the stores in your liver, then they draw glucose straight from the bloodstream, lowering your blood-sugar levels.
• When you're done exercising, your body gives top priority to replenishing glucose stores in the liver and muscles rather than the blood. This means that your blood sugar will stay lower for a few hours after exercise, or even for a whole day if you really worked it!

If you exercise regularly, you can actually lower your level of insulin resistance. That's because exercise forces muscles to use glucose more efficiently by making cells more receptive to insulin. It's as if getting physical gives your cells a kick in the pants. If they absolutely must have more glucose, they'll work harder to get it.

• Regular exercise perpetuates good blood-sugar control. In fact, the effect won't entirely fade away unless you go for about 72 hours without a workout.
• Even if you've been a die-hard couch potato for years, you can ratchet up your insulin sensitivity with exercise in as little as a week.

• What happens when muscles tap out the glucose in the liver and blood? After about 30 minutes of continuous exercise, the body turns to fatty acid stores.
• Using fat for energy helps clear the blood of harmful fats like LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. It also boosts "good" HDL cholesterol and helps trim abdominal fat, which is linked to a higher risk of diabetes and complications.

• The more active you are, the more energy you use. When combined with a controlled diet, increased activity creates a calorie deficit that leads to weight loss.
• Exercise also builds up your muscle mass, and since muscle burns energy faster than other types of tissue, you'll burn more calories all the time — even when you're watching TV.

• Exercise reduces your chances of having a heart attack, stroke, or other cardiovascular problem linked with diabetes.
• In one study, type 2 diabetes patients who took part in a three month exercise program saw their triglyceride and HDL cholesterol levels improve by about 20 percent, along with a significant drop in blood pressure.
• The benefits aren't limited to those with type 2 diabetes. Researchers have found that the risk of dying from cardiovascular illnesses is three times higher among sedentary type 1 diabetics than among those who regularly burn about 2,000 calories a week through exercise.

• This isn't a minor point: dealing with a chronic disease day after day can sometimes feel discouraging, stressful, or even depressing. Exercise helps by producing feel-good chemicals in the brain that can boost your mood, relieve stress, and alleviate the blues. It also does wonders for your sense of confidence and self-esteem.
• When you finish a workout, you're justified in feeling that you've accomplished something important. You really can get your health under control.

It's not the most important health benefit, but it sure is a strong motivator. Without a doubt, if your fitness improves, your appearance does too. You lose flab and gain muscle, strength, and energy. You'll look and feel livelier, more capable, and younger.

If you're trying to take up exercise, there really is no shortage of compelling reasons. Use this list to both understand the benefits and to motivate yourself to take the first step. It's simpler than it seems, and you'll definitely look back gratefully on the decision to finally start living a healthier life.