Taking short walks after meals may decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes for older adults, according to a new study from researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS).
Lead researcher Loretta DiPietro and her team enlisted ten adults with an average age of 60 who are considered at a high risk for diabetes because of an inactive lifestyle and high resting blood sugar levels.
They found that those who took three short, post-meal walks following evening meals over 24 hours lowered their blood sugar more than those who took a longer walk of 45 minutes or more.
"These findings are good news for people in their 70s and 80s who may feel more capable of engaging in intermittent physical activity on a daily basis," DiPietro said. "The muscle contractions connected with short walks were immediately effective in blunting the potentially damaging elevations in post-meal blood sugar commonly observed in older people."
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