“Too many people confine their exercise to jumping to conclusions, running up bills, stretching the truth, bending over backward, lying down on the job, sidestepping responsibility, and pushing their luck.”

Nobody takes credit for that statement, but it is true; and for diabetics, the part about pushing their luck is especially true if they don’t engage in regular PHYSICAL exercise.

Health professionals everywhere say that physical exercise is vital to good health. Even a perfectly healthy body will not function properly without regular physical exercise, and if that body has diabetes, exercise becomes doubly important.

Regular physical exercise can do several things for those who have diabetes:

* Exercise will lower blood sugar! Did you know that exercising before eating can regulate blood sugar levels as much as most blood-sugar-lowering drugs? It’s true. Research proves it!

* Exercise can help prevent heart disease! High blood pressure and high cholesterol lead to heart disease for everyone, and diabetics are particularly susceptible.

* Exercise can help control weight for diabetics! It’s true. Just regular exercise can do as much for helping diabetics control their weight as diet. The exercise doesn’t have to be strenuous to be effective. Simply walking 20 minutes every single day will do the trick.

Diabetics should, of course, follow their doctor’s recommendations about the intensity and frequency of exercise. Blood sugar levels most certainly matter! But being diabetic is not an excuse to avoid physical exercise.

Diabetics need to be especially careful to look for the signs of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar level) while they are exercising. Hypoglycemia doesn’t happen all at one time. There are physical signs that the blood sugar level is getting too low, and diabetics need to be aware of those signs so that they can take action to prevent serious problems.