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EXERCISE
BEFORE
YOU EAT
For better blood
glucose control,
sneak in a short
workout before
meals. In a study,
nine adults at risk
for type 2 diabetes
performed one-minute bursts of
intense walking and/
or resistance band
exercises alternating
with one-minute
rests for a total of
12 minutes, timing
this exercise to be
30 minutes before
each meal. on
different study days,
they took 30-minute,
less-intense walks
once daily, a half hour
before the evening
meal. each exercise
program was
preceded by a day
of regular activity.
the short bursts of
exercise lowered
blood glucose levels
compared with the
previous day by
about 18 mg/dl after
breakfast and 9 mg/dl
after the evening
meal, whereas the
longer walk didn’t
lower post-meal
levels. even 24 hours
later, average blood
glucose levels were
about 11 mg/dl lower
after days with
the brief exercise
than after the
longer-walk days.
Source: Diabetologia,
published online
May 8, 2014
Jog Your
Memory
⬤ a fitness tip worth remembering:
working up a sweat can keep your mind
sharp. in a study of 88 college students,
researchers discovered a link between
physical fitness and specific types of
memory. Participants who performed
better on a treadmill test scored higher
than other participants on tests of two
memory types: long-term memory, which
required them to remember words they
were shown a day earlier, and implicit
memory, which measured reaction times to
a moving target during an electronic test.
On the other hand, fitness did not affect
the students’ performance on tests of
working memory, such as remembering
verbal information while solving arithmetic
problems. The researchers speculate
that physical fitness may affect parts
of the brain controlling certain aspects of
memory more than others.
Source: Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral
Neuroscience, published online March 4, 2014
