By Dr. Bill Seiler, ShoreUp Physical Therapy
My kids think I am Superman, but if anyone hangs around me long enough, they will discover my true kryptonite: my sweet tooth. Put me around a plate of Christmas cookies, and I am utterly incapable of saying no. Throw in a few holiday parties, and pretty soon, I find myself in a metabolic mess.
Monitoring the Spike
In an effort to further understand what was happening inside my body, I decided to trial a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM). A CGM tracks your blood glucose in real-time, offering a visual representation of how your body responds to various meals.
For example, if I indulged in a pancake breakfast, I could visually see my blood sugar spike. That spike was typically followed by a sharp drop (known as reactive hypoglycemia), and then a gradual rise again.
Ultimately, elevated blood sugar and major spikes are not ideal for metabolic health. They reflect how your body is using insulin to manage glucose levels. Insulin is a critical hormone, and the inability to manage it effectively is the hallmark of Type II diabetes, where the body becomes resistant to insulin over time. Beyond its strong association with diabetes, chronically high blood sugar is linked to chronic inflammation, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease, and certain types of arthritis.
On a positive note, the CGM validated my go-to staple breakfast—broccoli and eggs—which resulted in no noticeable blood sugar elevation at all! However, I am human, and I do deviate from broccoli and eggs, especially during the holidays. So, what can one do to manage those spikes?
The Power of Timing
Exercise helps manage blood sugar because the body uses blood sugar (carbohydrates) for fuel. While simply exercising is the most important first step, the timing of that activity profoundly impacts our metabolic health. In a fasting state, the body tends to use a balance of carbohydrates and fat as a fuel source. Whereas after meals, the body primarily utilizes carbohydrates in our blood stream. This makes post-meal exercise a powerful tool for blood sugar management.
If you do have the ability to choose the time to best impact your blood sugar, what would that ideal window be?
A systematic review from 2023 examined the timing of exercise and its impact on blood glucose. Here is a brief summary of the results:
- Post-Meal Wins: Exercise after a meal appears to be more beneficial than exercise before meals in minimizing blood glucose excursions (spikes).
- The Golden Window: Exercising within 30 minutes of eating a meal has the most positive effects, outweighing the benefit of delaying exercise.
- Pre-Meal Limitations: Exercise prior to a meal does not appear to significantly blunt post-exercise hyperglycemia (the spike that follows).
The Holiday Takeaway
This Christmas season, don’t sweat every cookie. Instead, focus on timing your movement wisely. After that holiday party or Christmas breakfast, make time for a short, brisk walk or some light activity within that 30-minute window. Maybe save that Jingle Bell Run for after the big dinner? This simple timing shift ensures you’ll be using the glucose from that plate of cookies exactly when your body needs the help, turning a metabolic mess into better metabolic management.
Reference:
Engeroff T, Groneberg DA, Wilke J. After Dinner Rest a While, After Supper Walk a Mile? A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis on the Acute Postprandial Glycemic Response to Exercise Before and After Meal Ingestion in Healthy Subjects and Patients with Impaired Glucose Tolerance. Sports Med. 2023;53(4):849-869. doi:10.1007/s40279-022-01808-7
