Posted on 07/31/2013 10:02:54 PM PDT by neverdem
Exercise promotes health, reducing most people’s risks of developing diabetes and growing obese. But just how, at a cellular level, exercise performs this beneficial magic — what physiological steps are involved and in what order — remains mysterious to a surprising degree.
Several striking new studies, however, provide some clarity by showing that exercise seems able to drastically alter how genes operate.
Genes are, of course, not static. They turn on or off, depending on what biochemical signals they receive from elsewhere in the body. When they are turned on, genes express various proteins that, in turn, prompt a range of physiological actions in the body.
One powerful means of affecting gene activity involves a process called methylation, in which methyl groups, a cluster of carbon and hydrogen atoms, attach to the outside of a gene and make it easier or harder for that gene to receive and respond to messages from the body. In this way, the behavior of the gene is changed, but not the fundamental structure of the gene itself. Remarkably, these methylation patterns can be passed on to offspring – a phenomenon known as epigenetics.
What is particularly fascinating about the methylation process is that it seems to be driven largely by how you live your life. Many recent studies have found that diet, for instance, notably affects the methylation of genes, and scientists working in this area suspect that differing genetic methylation patterns resulting from differing diets may partly determine whether someone develops diabetes and other metabolic diseases.
But the role of physical activity in gene methylation has been poorly understood, even though exercise, like diet, greatly changes the body. So several groups of scientists recently set out to determine what working out does to the exterior of our genes.
The answer, their recently published...
(Excerpt) Read more at well.blogs.nytimes.com ...
try doing some of the poses while holding weights. I think it’s called power yoga but i’m not sure. I tried some from an article in Prevention. Yow, you can really be sore the next day!
M4L
So, does that mean I have to walk more than 60 miles a day to stay ahead of her?
Thanks for the tip.
No. It means that you have to be able to walk that fast or faster.
Bravada, what did you do before you became a diabetes educator, if I may ask?
Diabetes drug metformin proves useful for other problems
FReepmail me if you want on or off the diabetes ping list.
He is in his seventies and moves like a much younger man.
^
Didn’t help Jim Fixx.
The past several months have been cold and wet. I did not get into my exercise routine.
My A1c had crept over 7 as a result of the 9 months of relative sedentary activity, perhaps too many carbs and age. All have an effect. I began metformin and began to test fasting blood sugar most mornings.
The 500 mg prescribed metformin seemed to have no or minimal effect.
As soon as I began paddling my kayak for 2 hours, twice a week, an riding my bike some on the other days, the numbers went down. At 71 I doubt I can ever return to low 6 A1c but , 7 is my goal.
Exercise unquestionably makes a difference in my numbers.
My A1c had crept over 7 as a result of the 9 months of relative sedentary activity
First, I am not diabetic, though I clearly was on the path. I had all the symptoms of metabolic syndrome - obesity, hypertension, acid reflux, sleep apnea, back pain, acanthosis nigricans, etc. My fasting blood sugar was 105, by A1C was 5.8. My OGTT peaked at 177, with levels still elevated after two hours.
After a year of low-carb, combined with weight lifting, I've lost 80 pounds, all my various ailments are gone. My blood pressure is down from 140/100, with meds, to 110/70 without. My dawn phenomenon blood sugar is 83, it's in the mid-70's throughout the day. My latest OGTT peaked at 114, and was back to normal within an hour.
And my A1C is 4.9.
Bernstein makes a convincing argument that numbers in that range should be our goal. And I believe they are achievable for most, though it will take more effort for some than for others.
bump for later
I always laugh when the commercials say “if diet and exercise doesn’t work”....If done correctly diet and exercise always works!
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LOL! I was thinking the same thing!
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