Decreasing sedentary time and increasing physical activity or exercise of any intensity reduce glycemic variability and improve glycemic health in both healthy and diabetic adults.
Does physical activity and exercise improve continuous glucose monitor-assessed glycemic variability in adults?
Decreasing sedentary time and engaging in physical activity or exercise reduces continuous glucose monitor-assessed glycemic variability in both healthy and diabetic adults.
Glycemic variability is a more sensitive assessment of glycemic health as opposed to traditional clinical measurements. It considers all blood glucose concentrations over a given period to better account for glucose oscillations that occur and provides clinicians with insight into how individuals regulate and/or maintain their glycemic health. The advancement of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) allows for the measurement of free-living glucose concentrations while providing a more reliable assessment of treatment of dysregulated glycemic. CGM coupled with management of lifestyle behavioral factors, such as reduced sedentary behavior and increased physical activity and regular exercise, potentially offers a previously untapped method for promoting improved glycemic health through greater regulation of glucose concentrations. The aim of this review is to critically evaluate the evidence regarding the measurement of glycemic variability and summarize the current understanding of the relationship between glycemic variability, sedentary behavior, physical activity, the influence of a single exercise session or repeated exercise sessions, and exercise training. This review considers information pertaining to the strengths and limitations for measuring glycemic variability and provides insight into future study designs aimed at evaluating the relationship between sedentary behavior and physical activity with, as well as the influence of exercise on, glycemic variability as a primary outcome.
Sparks et al. (2021) conducted a review in Glycemic variability (Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, and Non-diabetic). Physical activity and exercise vs. Sedentary behavior or no exercise was evaluated on Glycemic variability (assessed via CGM). Decreasing sedentary time and increasing physical activity or exercise of any intensity reduce glycemic variability and improve glycemic health in both healthy and diabetic adults.