Experts suggest that sedentary lifestyle and dietary habits are the major factors for the rising incidence of Type 2 diabetes. I believe there is a connection but it is not the whole story.
What is the connection between a sedentary lifestyle and diabetes?
A study carried out for a period of six years among more than a thousand nondiabetic individuals from the high-risk population of Pima Indians found that the diabetes incidence rate remained higher in less active men and women from all BMI groups.
Experts suggest that reduced insulin sensitivity in physically less active people leads to the development of diabetes. However, there is no clear explanation of the mechanism by which physical inactivity contributes to the development of Type 2 diabetes.
On the other hand, a CDC report showed that in 2018 there were 28 million people between ages 18–44 diagnosed with prediabetes compared to 24 million people above age 65 in the United States. If physical inactivity was a significant contributor to the development of diabetes, this finding should have been reversed, showing a higher incidence of Type 2 diabetes among the older people. In addition, if it were true that less active people develop insulin insensitivity and diabetes, nearly all elderly people living in retirement facilities should be diabetic or at least prediabetic.
But there is no evidence to show this is the case. In my view, the link between a sedentary lifestyle and diabetes is related to the theory I have proposed as the cause of Type 2 diabetes. As my book, Diabetes: The Real Cause and The Right Cure, suggests, a diet high in grains creates voluminous amounts of glucose in the bloodstream. Any glucose that the body does not utilize immediately (within hours of digesting food) is converted to fatty acids that need to be stored in the fat cells for later use. When the fat cells become full, however, excess fatty acids remain in the bloodstream, to become the primary fuel for muscle cells.
However, if you are sedentary, your muscle cells are not utilizing those fatty acids, neither are they utilizing any glucose created from the foods you digest. The result is the same: excess glucose in the bloodstream, hence high blood sugar (pre-diabetes) and eventually Type 2 diabetes. In both cases, the real cause is a diet that is high in grains and grain-flour products. As to why not all elderly people develop diabetes though they are largely sedentary, the answer is simply that they tend to eat less. It is universally known that the older one gets, the more one’s appetite decreases as the body seems to naturally accommodate to less activity.
How does exercise improve the quality of my life?
Remaining physically active as we grow old is the best way to prevent or keep in check lifestyle-related illnesses like diabetes in order to maintain the quality of life and increase our lifespan. A key indicator of the state of one’s physical health is the efficiency of the metabolic activities inside each cell. Aging reduces the efficiency of mitochondria, the power generation facility inside each cell.
This, in turn, leads to the production of more free radicals that not only increase the chance of lifestyle-associated diseases but also accelerate the aging process. This is precisely why exercise is critical to your quality of life. It has been shown that lifelong exercise training improves mitochondrial efficiency, lowers free radical production, and contributes to healthy aging.
There are many additional health benefits from regular exercise that affect the quality of life.
For example, chances are you have never thought about how blood returns to the heart from different parts of the body, even against gravity, for example, from the legs, compared to the heart sending it there by the force of the heartbeat. You may not realize that the return of blood is aided by contractions of muscles that act as pumps to push the blood through the veins.
To prevent blood from dropping back under the pull of gravity, veins have valves spaced at different intervals. It is when these valves fail that you see the bulging which creates varicose veins. In addition, if you remain immobile for extended periods of time, such as during air travel or if you are bedridden, blood can stay stagnant, leading to the formation of blood clots that can be dangerous.
To help you with your decision to exercise regularly, let me give you a few suggestions:
- Be clear about why you want to exercise and what your exact objective is. For example, you might want to feel good about yourself being able to continue and enjoy certain physical activities as long as you can. Or you may want to improve your stamina or build muscle in order to keep up with your grandchildren. Perhaps you simply want to be able to carry out your everyday tasks, such as getting in and out of a car, more easily.
- Be adaptive. Sometimes you may find it hard to exercise because of travel, illness, or a pressing need for your time; rather than letting this situation discourage you, be adaptive and look forward to the next chance.
- Connect exercise with something you routinely do. For example, consider exercising every morning after your personal hygiene needs are met or before you settle down in the evening in front of the television.
- As often as possible, appreciate your ability to continue physical exercise. Patting yourself on the back is both a good literal and motivational exercise.
- To make physical exercise a part of your daily routine, start slowly, especially if you have been relatively sedentary for a long time. Create a mindset of curiosity to understand what the exercise you plan to do is and how it can help you. As you gradually master each exercise routine, you will find it increasingly comfortable to do. You will notice positive impacts in all aspects of your life. With commitment and perseverance, you will begin looking forward to exercising with the result that you are missing it when you can’t do it on account of travel or other pressing needs.
As a best-selling author and Nationally Syndicated Columnist, Dr. John Poothullil, advocates for patients struggling with the effects of adverse lifestyle conditions.
Dr. John’s books, available on Amazon, have educated and inspired readers to take charge of their health. There are many steps you can take to make changes in your health, but Dr. John also empowers us that we must demand certain changes in our healthcare system as well. This article is an excerpt taken from “Diabetes: The Real Cause and the Right Cure”, now available in a second edition.
Follow or contact Dr. John at drjohnonhealth.com.
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