How a Sedentary Lifestyle Contributes to Poor Blood Sugars: What You Need to Know

You already know most of the benefits of routine exercise on overall health.

But did you know lack of it may cause a domino effect of insulin dysfunction?

This post will teach you how a sedentary lifestyle may cause multiple branches of unstable blood sugars!

If routine physical activity is intentionally dismissed and you are struggling with stable blood sugars, this post is for you!

Read on to learn why ignoring physical activity may be contributing to unhappy blood sugar levels.

The Negative Impact Physical Inactivity May Have on Your Blood Sugars

Increased Body Fat

When your physical activity is minimal or nonexistent, you’re more likely to gain weight, especially around the belly.

Though this is more difficult to occur among type 1 diabetics, this isn’t impossible.

Belly fat isn’t just an issue for your wardrobe, either!

This extra weight is like a factory that produces stuff that messes with your body’s blood sugar control (1).

This “stuff” is called insulin resistance, and it can not only lead to diabetes but also worsen blood sugar control if you already have it.

Here’s the deal:

Insulin is like a traffic cop that directs sugar in your blood into your cells, where it’s used for energy.

But when you have too much fat, especially belly fat, it’s like the traffic cop (insulin) starts getting confusing signals and can’t do its job as well.

The sugar ends up staying in your bloodstream instead of going into cells, which causes high blood sugar.

This extra fat you’re carrying around sends out chemicals and hormones that act like static on a radio, interfering with the insulin’s signals.

So, even if your body produces more insulin to try and fix the problem, that added “static” means it’s harder for insulin to get the sugar out of your blood and into your cells.

Aren’t Most Type 1 Diabetics Not Obese?

Please also keep in mind, that many type 1 diabetics are not commonly obese or overweight.

Or are they?

A recent paper published at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that Americans with type 1 diabetes (T1D) were overweight or obese at approximately the same elevated rates observed in people without diabetes.

Specifically, their data displayed the following (2):

• 62% of adults with T1D were overweight or obese compared to the
• 64% of overweight or obese without diabetes and the
• 86% of adults with type 2 diabetes who are most commonly overweight or obese

Truthfully, coming across this research made my jaw drop as when I was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (over 20 years ago), the majority of T1Ds were not considered to be obese or overweight.

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Impaired Glucose Uptake

Overall, your body uses glucose as energy for the simplest and demandings tasks performed on a daily basis, such as blinking, breathing, walking, and strenuous activities.

Your muscle and other bodily cells use glucose to perform every given task your physiology is demanding of it.

Let’s make this simple analogy to make this notion a bit easier to chew on.

Imagine your body as a car that runs on sugar instead of gas.

Normally, insulin acts like a fuel pump, moving sugar from your bloodstream into your cells to keep you running smoothly.

But when you’re not active, this system doesn’t work as it should; it’s like the fuel pump gets clogged.

Physical inactivity means your muscle cells aren’t contracting and burning sugar as they would during exercise.

So, when insulin tries to deliver sugar to these cells, it’s like trying to pump fuel into an already full tank (3).

The sugar has nowhere to go and stays in the bloodstream, causing high blood sugar levels.

A non-diabetic’s body tries to fix this by producing even more insulin, thinking more “fuel pumps” will solve the problem.

But it doesn’t.

And if you’re a type 1 diabetic, the first response is likely to inject more insulin, as well.

It’s like trying to fix a traffic jam by putting more cars on the road; it only makes things worse!

Over time, your muscle cells start ignoring the insulin—”fuel pump”—altogether because they can’t take in any more sugar. This then commonly has a domino effect to other bodily cells, as well.

At this point, the cells begin to ignore insulin leading to insulin resistance.

And this sets you on a path toward more blood sugar instability and other health risks.

Reduced Muscle Mass

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Strong and healthy muscles can use insulin more effectively to burn sugar for energy compared to body fat.

Muscles play a pivotal role in glucose metabolism as they are the primary site for insulin-stimulated glucose uptake.

Physical inactivity can lead to muscles losing size and strength, which normally leads to insulin underperforming in some way (4).

Weaker muscles don’t use insulin well, which is associated with insulin resistance; even with insulin injections, they’re typically not as effective as they should be.

Reduced muscle mass also promotes a shift in body composition towards increased fat mass, which we already know is another risk factor for insulin resistance.

Inflammation

When you’re not active, your cells become like rusty locks that don’t work well with their keys, which in this case is insulin.

Inactivity makes your body produce substances that cause inflammation, almost like an internal fire.

This “fire” makes it even harder for insulin to unlock cells so they can absorb sugar from your blood.

The result is insulin resistance: your body needs more and more insulin to do the same job (5).

Think of it like spraying water on a grease fire; it just doesn’t work well.

This creates another vicious cycle where your body needs to produce more insulin, but it’s less effective.

Changes in Lipid Profile

A non-active lifestyle is commonly associated with a poor lipid profile, including increased triglycerides and LDL cholesterol with decreased HDL cholesterol, all of which are strongly associated with insulin resistance (6, 7).

Changes in the levels and types of fats in your blood can mess with your body’s ability to use insulin, which can lead to insulin resistance.

But how does this occur?

Firstly, when there’s too much “bad” fat like LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, they can cause inflammation.

We’ve already established that inflammation may interfere and make insulin less effective in moving sugar from your blood into your cells.

Secondly, higher levels of these bad fats may also disrupt insulin’s effectiveness.

This is a condition known as lipotoxicity, which I will go more in depth in another post soon.

For now, just know lipotoxicity strongly increases impaired insulin signaling risk that typically influences insulin resistance and hyperglycemia.

Lastly, low levels of “good” fats, known as HDL cholesterol, don’t offer the protective effects they normally would (8).

Good fats usually help keep inflammation low and blood vessels healthy, which supports insulin in doing its job effectively.

So, an imbalance of blood fats can set off a chain reaction, making it harder for insulin to work, raising your blood sugar, and increasing your risk for blood glucose instability and other potential diabetic complications.

Altered Hormone Levels

I wrote an article about how routinely poor sleep commonly creates a chain reaction of hormone imbalances that can create insulin resistance and unstable blood sugars.

A non-active lifestyle can have a similar effect.

When you don’t exercise, it’s not just your muscles that miss out.

Your hormones may also get out of whack making it harder for your body to use sugar properly due to elevated insulin resistance risk.

First, you already know exercise usually helps your muscles absorb sugar from the blood more effectively.

If you’re not physically active, you’re not giving insulin a chance to do its job as well as it could, and the sugar may stay in your bloodstream, making you more likely to be resistant to insulin over time (9).

Second, lack of physical activity may lead to weight gain, especially around your waist.

Fat cells in your belly release hormones and other substances that can mess up insulin’s function.

The following are hormones that may contribute to this:

Leptin

Resistin

Resistin was recently discovered in 2001 and is a hormone produced by your fat cells.

Although its specific role isn’t entirely clear, research has data suggesting significantly increased levels of resistin among the following conditions (10, 11):

• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Insulin resistance
• Cardiovascular disease
• Atherosclerosis
• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
• Rheumatic disease
• Asthma
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Chronic kidney disease

Resistin may interfere with insulin signaling in tissues like muscle and liver, making these tissues less responsive to the effects of insulin.

The more belly fat present, the more these problematic hormones appear to be active, making your insulin even less effective.

Cortisol

Lastly, intentional physical activity typically helps balance other hormones like cortisol, the stress hormone.

I go over in more detail cortisol’s role with hormone imbalance in my sleep post, but just know that when cortisol levels are chronically high, this creates glucose stores to be released in excess which, over time, can make your body more resistant to insulin.

Without exercise to keep cortisol in check, you might find yourself in a cycle where high-stress hormones make your insulin less effective.

So, not moving enough throws your hormones off balance, making it hard for your insulin to work and putting you at risk for volatile blood glucose levels.

And for those of you who are aware that cortisol levels can increase during exercise, yes, you are correct with this notion. However, it’s a positive stress like your muscles being broken down only to build back up stronger during rest.

The activated cortisol during exercise helps your body regulate against other common stressers beyond physical demands.

This is why it’s common for one to feel better after a jog, or a nice walk in the park!

Oxidative Stress

Exercise is known to increase the body’s natural antioxidant defenses.

Lack of physical activity may lead to increased oxidative stress, which is a more explicit form of inflammation that has been linked to insulin resistance (12).

When you don’t exercise, your body can end up with too many harmful molecules called free radicals.

The picture below will summarize why these three variables are important to know (13, 14).

Click table to enlarge

Think of these free radicals like little rust spots that start showing up in a machine that’s not well-maintained.

This situation is called oxidative stress and it’s bad news for how your body’s or prescribed insulin may handle sugar.

Antioxidants play a crucial role in maintaining overall health and preventing damage to cells and tissues.

Normally, insulin will help your cells absorb sugar from your blood for energy.

But when there’s too much oxidative stress, it’s like throwing sand in the gears; insulin can’t do its job properly.

The result?

Your blood glucose levels stay high because the sugar can’t get into your cells as easily as it would like.

The excess sugar in your blood causes even more oxidative stress, setting off yet another vicious cycle.

Again, your body tries to compensate by making more insulin, but this extra insulin becomes less and less effective at its job over time, leading to more severe insulin resistance.

So, when you skip out on exercise, you’re not just missing out on a good body pump, you may also be letting oxidative stress build up, making it harder for your body to juggle blood sugars more effectively and reliably.

Endothelial Dysfunction

Physical inactivity can cause changes in the blood vessels that may impair their ability to dilate and contract, which can also contribute to insulin resistance.

Exercise enhances insulin signaling pathways in muscles, helping the cells respond better to insulin.

Lack of exercise can lead to impaired signaling.

The lining of your blood vessels, called the endothelium, acts like a traffic cop for your bloodstream.

It helps control how wide your blood vessels get and signals when certain things, like nutrients and hormones, should enter or exit the bloodstream (15).

When you’re inactive and don’t exercise, this “traffic cop” doesn’t work as well.

This is known as endothelial dysfunction.

Here’s why it’s a big deal for your blood sugars:

• Insulin needs the endothelium to function properly
• When the endothelium is not doing its job well, insulin struggles to help your cells absorb sugar from the blood.
• The result is that your blood sugar stays higher than it should be, making it difficult for insulin to do its job effectively.

Hyperglycemia may also damage the endothelium further, creating another vicious cycle.

The less effective the endothelium becomes, the worse your insulin resistance gets, increasing the risk of further blood sugar instability and diabetic complications risk.

So, when you’re not active, you’re not just losing muscle or gaining weight; you’re also messing with the inner lining of your blood vessels.

Decreased Insulin Signaling

I just mentioned how insulin signaling may get thrown off if physical activity is at a minimum.

Let’s dig a little deeper into this notion.

Remember the example of the rusty lock not allowing the key (insulin) to open it?

This is what we mean by “decreased insulin signaling.”

In an active body, exercising muscles are like a maintenance crew that keeps those locks well-oiled and easy to open (16).

When you don’t exercise, the locks start to get rusty, so the insulin key can’t work properly.

Your body then tries to solve the problem by making more keys (insulin), but the real issue is the rusty locks, not a lack of keys.

By now, you should know what’s going to happen next, right?

The sugar that should be going into your cells stays in your bloodstream, and your blood sugar levels rise.

High blood sugar itself can make those locks even rustier, setting off…

…you guessed it…

…a vicious cycle!

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Over time, this normally leads to insulin resistance.

Dr. Mo’s Final Thoughts

As you’ve been reading among this series of posts, it’s not just one or two things that mess with your blood sugars!

There are multiple and different ways one lacking lifestyle choice (or more) may snowball into many different causes for achieving insulin resistance and unstable blood sugars.

Your body feeds off on how healthy it is or isn’t.

Does this mean you need to be 100% flawless every second of the day?

If you’re able to, then great!

But it won’t hurt to do what you can with the knowledge you now possess along with your diabetic health provider.

You got this.

Just take it one step at a time with your doctor.

The next post is going to teach you how chronic stress may impact blood sugar irregularities.

I hope you’re empowered with a bit more knowledge on how these strings are being pulled with your blood sugars.

Please help me educate other type 1’s you may know and share this post only if you feel this may help them, as well!

Much love and thank you!
 

Summary

• Some negative effects specific to a type 1 diabetic that may arise if one is not as intentionally active:
  • Increased body fat; the food you eat is only used to feed your body’s cells & to ensure you can meet almost any physical, mental, emotional, and physiological demand your body imposes on you or visa versa.
     
    If there’s little to no demand for this consumed energy, the extra food will be stored as fat.
     
    Physical activity is one of the quickest & most demanding ways to use and burn the energy we eat (in the form of carbs, proteins, and fats = macronutrients).
  • The more active you are, the more insulin sensitive you become in your skeletomuscular system as it becomes more efficient in utilizing this routine energy demand among your bones, muscles, tendons, and cartilage, in addition to your mental capacity depending on the a particular physical demand.
     
    A great example of this would be in basketball, where an individual needs to be physically competent to run, pass, and shoot the ball successfully but also needs to plan ahead with where to pass, when to box out an opponent for a rebound, and how to read the court among defenders and their teammates.
  • Many hormones work together during physical activity. Some include leptin, insulin, resistin, and cortisol, among others.
     
    When not enough physical activity is present, all of these hormones may influence insulin resistance, which can further complicate blood sugar stability.
  • Remember that chronic stress is part of any illness or disease. A byproduct of this is oxidative stress (when there are more free radicals than antioxidants).
     
    Oxidative stress occurs when there are not enough antioxidants present in the body to fight off the excess free radicals. Antioxidants are largely sourced through fruits and vegetables; however, research has shown a small increase of antioxidant activity can be seen among the muscles, heart, and liver during physical activity.
  • Cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer among Americans. Incidentally, it’s also the #1 complication diabetics have due to its close connection to poor blood sugar stability.
     
    For those who are not routinely active, the lining of your blood vessels (the endothelium) are not forced to widen the blood vessels to allow more blood flow during demanding physical activities.
     
    When the endothelium is not working well, this can hinder insulin function, as well (remember, insulin helps to take glucose out of the blood).
  • All of these factors can impair insulin function and signaling in the body.

References