Exercise, but no need to overdo it


(Joey) #1

In what is hopefully becoming commonsense by now, here’s a bit more research showing that a bit of exercise is awesome for longevity, but doing more than needed is a waste of your precious time.

Conclusion Muscle-strengthening activities were inversely associated with the risk of all-cause mortality and major non-communicable diseases including CVD, total cancer, diabetes and lung cancer; however, the influence of a higher volume of muscle-strengthening activities on all-cause mortality, CVD and total cancer is unclear when considering the observed J-shaped associations.

And to put a finer point on it, more than a “modest” (my term) amount of exercise can be counter-productive to long-term health - with diabetes presenting an interesting departure from the risk profile seen with respect to other cancer, CVD, and all-cause mortality.

Perhaps in the case of diabetes, more is better due to the glucose-consuming effects of prolonged exertion?

See graphic here (from the study):


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

While excess glucose is a problem, we need to get away from the glucose model of diabetes. Bikman and other researchers insist that diabetes, all three types, is a problem with insulin. Type I is a lack of insulin, because the beta cells in the pancreas have been destroyed. Type II is an excess of insulin, resulting from insulin-resistance in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. Type III, Alzheimer’s disease, is insulin-resistance of the brain, resulting from damage to the glucose-metabolising pathway in brain cells (ketones are metabolised differently, which is why a ketogenic diet can be of value to Alzheimer’s disease patients).

So it seems to me that, by over-worrying about glucose, we are under-worrying about insulin, whereas the real concern should be to reduce our insulin resistance and thus the level of the insulin response to our meals.

Historically, the focus on glucose results from the inability of physicians 2500 years ago to detect anything but sweetness in the urine and perspiration of diabetics. We do know a bit more, these days, about what is really going on. So it’s time to revise our thinking. (Like that’s gonna happen, amiright?)


(Bob M) #3

And that might be why lifting is good – muscles act like insulin sinks. Something like this:


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

Well, we know that exercise helps heal mitochondria, which reduces the insulin-resistance of the muscle, apparently.