High blood sugar puts a lot of stress on your body. Aside from leading to metabolic conditions like type-2 diabetes, unchecked elevated blood sugar can damage important blood vessels.
Over time, this damage can cut off blood to your vital organs and increase the risk for heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, nerve problems, and even eyesight. Taking a stand against high blood sugar can play a massive factor in overall health and longevity.
How can you take a stand against high blood sugar? By getting up out of your seat and literally getting into an upright position. You can take it a little further with some light walking or bike riding, but there is no need to go too hard out of the gate.
Research has shown that replacing about 2.5 hours of sitting time with standing each day can lead to 24-hour reductions in blood sugar levels among overweight and obese individuals. If light activity is included in that 2.5 hours, the benefits are even greater.
One small study from 2016 found that standing for 2.5 hours a day could reduce blood sugar levels by about 5 percent, while including movement could lower it by up to 12 percent.
Standing and moving helps reduce blood sugar by initiating muscle contractions. Muscles rely on stored glucose for energy to contract and require it for movement.
Your body does not require as much energy to stand as it does to move, but even standing in place requires more energy than sitting. To stand upright, you need to keep your legs and core tense, which needs energy. When seated, your body is essentially slumped and limp, with very little use for glucose.
When you’re not moving, glucose uptake is low and blood levels can elevate. This is especially true if you’ve got a high carbohydrate diet.
The study found that standing or moving could reduce blood glucose all day, whether measured directly following a meal or during sleep. Each participant was outfitted with an all-day monitor to track blood sugar.
Reducing blood sugar could be as easy as standing for 10-minutes out of every hour you’re awake, or performing a little more activity each day. It can go a long way to preventing diabetes and a number of other potentially dangerous conditions.