This article discusses how I lowered my one-hour post-prandial or after-meal blood sugar using Tabata training.
A blood sugar of more than 155 mg/dl (8.61 mmol/L) one hour after eating has been associated with higher all-cause mortality. It is also predictive of heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes, and kidney failure.
If, for some reason, you missed checking the one-hour, the two-hour after-meal blood sugar should be below 140 mg/dl (8mmol/L). Between the two, the one-hour is more predictive.
I discussed them in my previous articles.
- A High One-hour After-Meal Blood Sugar Test can Lead to Several Deadly Conditions
- A surprising reason why people get heart attacks
- After-meal blood sugar spikes as a cause of vascular failure
- A Healthy Lifestyle is as effective as Voglibose and Nateglinide in Lowering 10-year Cardiac Mortality
- After-meal high blood sugar predicts Atherosclerosis better than Fasting blood sugar and HbA1c
- Blood Glucose Spike and its Prevention
There are many ways to achieve those one-hour and two-hour targets. Eating vegetables first, then protein, then carbs is one way.
Veggies Meat Carbohydrate Sequence Prevents After Meal Sugar Spike
Another is not to skip breakfast but instead eat a high protein one for better insulin secretion the rest of the day.
- Eating rather than skipping breakfast results in lower blood sugars the whole day
- A High-Protein Breakfast Can Lower Blood Sugar the Whole Day
Vinegar slows down the digestion of carbs in the stomach, allowing them to be absorbed later in the small intestine. This prevents the immediate blood sugar and insulin spike right after a meal.
Nuts like pistachios before the meal also help.
- Pistachios improve insulin resistance and inflammatory markers
- Pistachios decrease after-meal blood sugar
There are many ways to lower sugar even after eating high-glycemic foods.
A Tool Box of Strategies to Prevent Blood Sugar Spikes When Eating High Glycemic Index Foods
One way mentioned in the articles mentioned above is walking for 15 to 20 minutes after a meal.
Walk After Meals to Prevent Sky High Blood Sugars
I have tried the above, and they have worked for me most of the time.
- Passing and Failing the One-Hour After-Meal Blood Sugar
- Low One-Hour Post-Prandial Blood Sugar after One Cup of Rice
But what if you don’t have 20 minutes to walk? What if there is no place to walk or the weather is not permitting?
Tabata training
Tabata training was invented by Dr. Izumi Tabata. It is a four-minute high-intensity interval training equivalent to 60 minutes of aerobic training. I wrote about it a long time ago in,
No Time to Exercise? Let’s Fix That
It involves exercising for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of rest and repeated eight times for four minutes.
Don’t be turned off by the phrase high intensity. It doesn’t have to be that intense, at least in the beginning.
The exercises will get easier as time goes on. That’s because the body adapts to the new activity. And that includes the muscles, heart, lungs and blood vessels, brain and nerves.
How I did it
Since there are eight sets, I split them into arms and leg exercises. For example, I did push-ups or pull-ups for the arms and did lunges, body squats, or step-ups.
I know that may sound hard or impossible to some, but it doesn’t have to.
For example, push-ups can be done on the wall, a kitchen counter, and a chair. Or you can do the plank.
Instead of doing the whole pull-up, you can hang on the bar. Just ensure you engage the muscles around the scapula or wing bone to prevent shoulder injury. Grip the bar tightly as you do so.
If you don’t have a pull-up bar, try this inexpensive Pull-Up Bar for Doorway from Amazon.
Forward or backward lunges can be done partially or with the knee not touching the floor or partially if you’re not used to it yet.
I modified the squats such that when I stand up straight, I contract the upper back muscles for a split second. You will feel your upper back muscles getting a work out after you do it.
Stairs can be used for step-ups.
You can find more bodyweight exercises in You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises
Why include the arms? Isn’t walking enough?
The body knows how to use energy efficiently. Everybody is used to walking, so there is not much physiological demand on the heart, lungs, and muscles from the buttocks to the legs. Unless, of course, you will walk faster than usual.
The arms are different. Not many use their arms for heavy lifting nowadays. For some, their cell phone is the heaviest object they will lift for the day.
There are layers of muscles in the back and chest. Every time we use our arms, they work.
Heart rate is faster when exercising the arms
If you check your heart rate by counting the pulse rate on the wrist or using a pulse oximeter or a real-time monitor like the Polar H10, which I use, you will find that the heart beats faster every time you exercise the upper limbs.
That’s because the arms are not as exercised as the legs. Faster heart rates mean greater effort and more calories and blood sugar used. Plus, my arms get the exercise they need.
Making the muscles contract uses up the stored glycogen in them. In return, the muscle fibers will have room for the blood sugar to get in and form new glycogen for future physical activities.
When I started doing push-ups again, I could barely do ten. After three weeks, I can do 34 again in 20 seconds. That is an example of adaptation.
How effective is Tabata training?
Since I started doing the four-minute Tabata exercises, I never had a one-hour blood sugar above 155 mg/dl.
The greatest challenge was when my wife and I went to a Chinese buffet. You probably know the foods in the Chinese buffet.
Of course, I did the vegetable, protein, and carbohydrate sequence, but it was not strict because there were lots of battered fried meat in different sauces. I had small servings of two different kinds of noodles and had two pastries—no ice cream.
I knew that my blood sugar would be high if I didn’t do anything, so as soon as I got home after a 20-minute drive, I changed clothes and did two four-minute Tabata exercises, and I did them with a higher intensity than before.
The result is a one-hour blood sugar of 106 mg/dl, which is fantastic.
You can download any Tabata training app on your phone, so you don’t have to watch the clock.
Hesperetin and Trans-resveratrol
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I have been taking hesperitin and transresveratrol to reverse my insulin resistance. It is possible that they contributed to the better blood sugar response. I wrote about them in,
Reversal of Insulin Resistance by Trans-Resveratrol and Hesperetin
I use Research Labs High Potency Micronized Resveratrol.
The hesperidin I bought is out of stock, but I will use the Swanson Hesperidin 500 Milligrams 60 Capsules (3 Pack) when I need more.
Not that hesperetin and hesperidin are the same.
Tips
- I set the timer on my digital watch to alarm 40 minutes after I eat. That’s when I start to prepare for exercise.
- I also turn the chronograph so I can tell how many minutes after I eat.
- I use the Care Touch glucometer to check my blood sugar.
- If you already have a continuous glucometer, you’re golden.
Please consult your physician before starting an exercise program.
Don’t Get Sick!
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