Posted on 04/05/2025 9:49:59 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Researchers conducted a large-scale epidemiological study to explore the potential health benefits of high muscle strength in preventing type 2 diabetes (T2D) across varying levels of genetic risk.
The study found that higher muscle strength was associated with over 40% lower risk of T2D, regardless of genetic susceptibility to T2D. The study highlights the importance of maintaining or improving muscle strength for preventing T2D.
The research utilized data of 141,848 white British individuals without baseline T2D from the UK Biobank. Muscle strength was assessed in the form of grip strength. Genetic risk of T2D was estimated based on 138 known genetic variants for T2D.
The participants were followed up for more than seven years. The findings indicated that, compared with low muscle strength, individuals with high muscle strength was associated with a 44% lower relative risk of developing T2D, even after taking into account T2D genetic risk as well as other risk factors.
The research team observed evidence of an interaction between muscle strength and genetic susceptibility to T2D, suggesting that muscle strength may play a role in modifying the impact of genetic risk to T2D onset. The findings further revealed that individuals at high genetic risk of T2D but with high muscle strength could have a lower absolute risk of T2D, compared with those at low or medium genetic risk but with low muscle strength.
This study uncovered the first-ever prospective associations between muscle strength, genetic susceptibility to type 2 diabetes, and the risk of developing the disease.
"Individuals in middle-to-late life are at increased risk of type 2 diabetes. However, our study has demonstrated the potential roles of high muscle strength in preventing the future risk of developing type 2 diabetes not only in all individuals, but also in individuals with high genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
This seems obvious to me because to have strong muscles you need to use them in a challenging way, which uses up blood glucose and makes the muscles bigger, which burns more calories at rest, just because they are an active tissue.
Work those muscles! It doesn’t matter much if others in your family have Type 2 diabetes, as this review concluded. Genetics play a smaller role than thought.
You choose your own health’s direction.
Weight training burns blood sugar as well.
Bfl
It would seem that it is one thing to burn more blood sugar via weight training, while it is quite another to have an insulin resistance problem. The former is analogous to getting one’s fasting glucose test after 8-10 hours fasting versus 16-18. The former is more likely to look like a prediabetic.
Did not help my dad.
I listened to a YouTube video yesterday by Dr Chris Palmer, Harvard psychiatrist, regarding this topic. He stated that exercise significantly increases the quantity of mitochondria in the muscles. They are the powerhouses of energy for the body, producing ATP, the fuel our body uses.
He stated that it’s not about muscle mass, but quantity of mitochondria. Working muscles that have stamina and endurance are high density mitochondria, show muscles are not.
It’s the reason that dark meat (high density) is better than white meat, (low density.)
It’s also the reason why brown fat is healthy while white fat is not.
He went on to explain how fasting and a ketone diet improves both physical and mental health. The keto diet makes mitochondria function better.
Sugar and starches make mitochondria “sticky.”
Studies have shown that fasting and keto even eliminated epileptic seizures without medication.
He is not a big proponent of vitamins and supplements. However, he did mention Urolithin A.
“Urolithin A (UA) is a naturally occurring compound derived from the metabolism of gut microbiota, which has attracted considerable research attention due to its pharmacological effects and potential implications in muscle health and performance.
Recent studies have demonstrated that Urolithin A exhibits diverse biological activities, encompassing anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumor, and anti-aging properties.
In terms of muscle health, accumulating evidence suggests that Urolithin A may promote muscle protein synthesis and muscle growth through various pathways, offering promise in mitigating muscle atrophy. Moreover, Urolithin A exhibits the potential to enhance muscle health and performance by improving mitochondrial function and regulating autophagy.
Mitochondria use the blood sugar (glucose) to produce the ATP in the Krebs or Citric Acid Cycle.
Ketones are a better fuel than glucose in the Krebs Cycle producing ATP as they enter the production process later resulting in lower CO2 production. Thus your body maintains better metabolic flexibility.
This is one reason that respiration function improves in ketosis.
Warning: While ketosis can be a natural part of the body’s metabolic response to low carbohydrate intake, excessive ketosis, especially in individuals with diabetes, can lead to ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition where the blood becomes too acidic.
Those with big muscles are also more likely to not have big fat and exercise and care about what they eat more.
The article states that they used hand strength to evaluate over all strength. Hand strength is greatly reduced if you have arthritis. So is it muscle use that they are measuring or lack of arthritis. And is there something that causes diabetes and arthritis? Does arthritis cause or promote diabetes?
Also did test subjects get evaluated on what sort of job or hobbies they have? Some people may have much better hand strength that others due to daily habits.
I guess this means I should keep going to the gym. :-)
You can mitigate some health issues with diet and exercise, but from my personal experience you ain’t gonna beat genetics. They’re going to get you every time.
Thank you for taking the time to educate me!
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