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More than 37 million Americans have diabetes, and 90 to 95% of that population is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Lifestyle interventions, such as a healthy diet and regular exercise program, are methods of managing diabetes.
A new study from a collaboration of researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, one of the founders of the Mass General Brigham health system, and Joslin Diabetes Center, part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, uses data from the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes ) study, a randomized controlled trial that compared intensive lifestyle intervention with diabetes support and education in patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and overweight or obese to monitor the development of cardiovascular disease over time.
In the current study, the research team assessed whether physical activity at certain times of the day was associated with greater improvement in blood glucose control. Their findings suggest that patients with type 2 diabetes who were physically active in the afternoon had the greatest improvements after one year in the trial. The results of the team are published in Diabetes Care .
“In this study, we showed that adults with type 2 diabetes had the greatest improvement in glucose control when they were most active in the afternoon,” said co-corresponding author Jingyi Qian, Ph.D., of the Department of Sleep and Circadian Disorders. at the Brigham. “We know that physical activity is beneficial, but what our study adds is a new understanding that timing of activity may also be important.”
Doctors recommend that patients with diabetes engage in regular exercise as a method of controlling their blood glucose levels. Elevated blood glucose levels can put people with type 2 diabetes at risk for heart disease, vision impairment, and kidney disease.
The team analyzed physical activity data from the first and fourth years of the Look AHEAD study, which included data from more than 2,400 participants. During the study, participants wore a waist acceleration recording device to measure physical activity.
When Brigham and Joslin’s team looked at the data from the first year, they found that those who engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity in the afternoon had the greatest reduction in blood glucose levels. When comparing year four data, the afternoon group maintained a reduction in blood glucose levels. In addition, the afternoon group was also most likely to discontinue their glucose-lowering/diabetes medication.
Brigham and Joslin’s team notes that their research has limitations; for example, their study is observational and does not measure confounding factors such as sleep and dietary intake.
In future studies, the team may experimentally test their findings to investigate the underlying mechanisms that may explain why the time of day of activity may affect blood glucose regulation. From this, the team may be able to make specific physical activity recommendations for patients.
“Timing seems to matter,” says co-corresponding author Roeland Middelbeek, MD, assistant researcher at the Joslin Diabetes Center. “In the future, we may have more data and experimental evidence for patients to make more personalized recommendations.”
More information:
Qian, J. et al. “Association of timing of moderate to vigorous physical activity with changes in glycemic control over 4 years in adults with type 2 diabetes from the Look AHEAD study.”Diabetes Care (2023). DOI: 10.2337/dc22-2413
Quote: Afternoon exercise linked to greater blood sugar improvements for patients with type 2 diabetes (2023, May 25) Retrieved May 25, 2023 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-afternoon-linked-greater-blood-sugar .html
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