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Walking Downhill Lowers Blood Sugar, Uphill Lowers Cholesterol Levels
Walking Downhill Lowers Blood Sugar, Uphill Lowers Cholesterol Levels -- Posted by Ted Rosenberg on 12-07-04 05:06
Walking Downhill Lowers Blood Sugar, Uphill Lowers Cholesterol Levels
on Tuesday, November 16 @ 17:18:55 EST
Triglycerides were lowered only by walking uphill and glucose tolerance was
most improved by walking downhill.
If you are too weak, unfit or heavy to embark on an exercise program, you
should try walking downhill. Walking downhill is good for lowering your
blood glucose levels, say Austrian researchers. Walking uphill reduces
triglycerides - these are important components of cholesterol.
Dr. Heinz Drexel, Voralberg Institute, Feldirch, Austria, says that walking
downhill may be a good starting point for sedentary people to start
exercising. It is much easier and it does you a lot of good.
Drexel says that walking downhill reduces the risks (effects) of diabetes.
Drexel carried out his research in the Austrian Alps.
Results of a randomized, crossover study in sedentary adults suggest that
both concentric and eccentric muscle exercise have beneficial effects on
lipid and glucose metabolism, suggesting that both walking up and down
inclines can be heart healthy.
The study results were discussed at a press conference at the American Heart
Association (AHA) 2004 Scientific Sessions. Lead investigator Heinz Drexel,
MD, from the Vorarlberg Institute for Vascular Investigation and Treatment
in Feldkirch, Austria, stated that, although the study was done in the Alps,
a similar exercise benefit "could be achieved by walking up and down several
flights of stairs or by using exercise equipment that is designed for both
concentric and eccentric workouts."
Dr. Drexel and colleagues randomized 45 healthy, sedentary, nondiabetic
volunteers to either two months of hiking up mountains (concentric exercise)
or two months of hiking down mountains (eccentric exercise). Participants
were instructed to exercise at least three to five times per week. After two
months, patients were crossed over to the other exercise program.
When the volunteers hiked up the mountain, they took a cable car down the
mountain, and when they hiked down, they took a cable car up. The cable car
was useful, said Dr. Drexel, because the researchers used cable car ticket
stubs as one measure of compliance. Volunteers were also asked to complete
exercise diaries.
At baseline and after each exercise period a full metabolic profile
including an oral lipid tolerance test and an oral glucose tolerance test
was obtained.
Dr. Drexel said that he and his colleagues expected that only concentric
exercise would show benefit, but "the results were surprising. Triglycerides
were lowered only by concentric exercise, while glucose tolerance was most
improved by eccentric exercise, and both concentric and eccentric improved
low-density lipoprotein (LDL) [cholesterol]," he said.
The concentric improvement in the area under the curve for triglyceride
levels was 11.0%, which was significant at P = .037. The eccentric
improvement in the area under the curve for glucose levels was improved by
8.2% (P = .027).
Concentric exercise reduced LDL cholesterol levels by 10.2% (P < .001), and
eccentric exercise reduced them by 8.9% (P = .001), Dr. Drexel said.
Raymond Gibbons, MD, chairman of the AHA scientific program committee, said
at the press conference that the study may make him rethink his daily
routine. "I regularly walk up the stairs to my office and then take the
elevator down. This study suggests that I should change that practice," said
Dr. Gibbons, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester,
Minnesota.
" While Dr. Drexel said the findings suggest that a downhill exercise
program might be a good option for people at risk for diabetes or people
with type 2 diabetes, Dr. Smith said the evidence of one small study does
not support such a recommendation.
AHA 2004 Scientific Sessions: Abstract 3826. Presented Nov. 10, 2004.
Learn about the First Step Program, a program to increase physical activity
that has gone through 8 years of clinical studies to show its effectiveness.
www.firststepprogram.com
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