How Does Exercise Affect Blood 🩸 Sugar? [b365ea]

2025-07-26

Post Time: 2025-07-26

Pregnancy is a delicate time for women, both physically and emotionally. As your body undergoes numerous changes to support the growth of your baby, it's essential to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. However, during pregnancy, blood sugar levels can fluctuate due to various factors such as hormonal changes, gestational diabetes, or other underlying medical conditions.

The Risks of High Blood Sugar During Pregnancy

High blood sugar levels during pregnancy increase the risk of complications for both mother and baby. According to research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, women with high blood sugar levels are more likely to develop gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and other pregnancy-related health issues (Source: [1]). In extreme cases, high blood sugar can lead to premature birth or even fetal loss. Hence, it's crucial for expectant mothers to be aware of their blood sugar levels.

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) - A Growing Concern

GDM is a type of diabetes that develops during pregnancy due to insulin resistance and inadequate insulin production. Women with GDM have higher blood sugar levels than those without the condition, putting them at risk for developing cardiovascular disease later in life (Source: [2]). Research suggests that one in seven pregnancies worldwide are affected by GDM, highlighting its growing concern.

Maintaining Healthy Blood Sugar Levels

While maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is crucial during pregnancy, what constitutes a normal range? According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), for pregnant women without diabetes, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) should be less than 92 mg/dL and postprandial glucose (PPG) less than 180 mg/dL. However, if you have gestational diabetes or pre-existing diabetes, your healthcare provider will set a personalized target range.

Monitoring Blood Sugar Levels at Home

Monitoring blood sugar levels is essential for pregnant women to adjust their diet and exercise routine accordingly. Using glucometers or continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) can help track blood sugar fluctuations throughout the day. Women with GDM are advised to monitor their FPG, PPG, and A1C levels regularly.

Factors Contributing to High Blood Sugar Levels

Several factors contribute to high blood sugar levels during pregnancy. These include:

  • Genetics: Family history of diabetes or other metabolic disorders
  • Hormonal fluctuations: Increased insulin resistance due to hormonal changes in the body
  • Diet and lifestyle choices: Consuming a diet rich in refined carbohydrates, sugars, and unhealthy fats; lack of regular physical activity

Tips for Maintaining Healthy Blood Sugar Levels

To maintain healthy blood sugar levels during pregnancy:

  1. Eat frequent, balanced meals with plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains
  2. Engage in moderate-intensity exercise daily or engage in other physical activities to improve insulin sensitivity.
  3. Manage stress through techniques like meditation and deep breathing exercises

When Should I Worry About Blood Sugar Levels?

If you notice any of the following symptoms:

  • Increased thirst: Feeling extremely thirsty due to high blood sugar levels
  • Frequent urination: Needing to pee more frequently than usual due to excess glucose in urine.
  • Blurred vision

Consult your healthcare provider for guidance and support.

In conclusion, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is crucial during pregnancy. By being aware of the risks associated with high blood sugar levels, monitoring their condition regularly, making lifestyle adjustments as needed, expectant mothers can reduce complications during this sensitive period.

FREE report - 6 ways to tame your appetite and cravings Holistic Health Practitioner Tonya Fines discusses the impact of exercise on your blood sugar. For many people, they aren't entirely sure what blood sugar or blood glucose levels are and why they're important. Our activity has a tremendous effect on our bodily processes, how we feel and how we need to fuel our body prior to exercise. When you exercise, your body requires energy from blood sugar … this is called glucose. When you do something quickly, like a sprint up the stairs your muscles and liver release glucose for fuel. Now when you do moderate exercise for a longer time, like go on a long hike, your muscles require much more glucose. THIS helps lower blood sugar levels. Exercise lowers blood sugar over a 24-hour period, but sometimes exercise also does zoloft raise blood sugar briefly raises blood sugar following a workout. Here’s how all of that works: Overall, even moderate exercise, such as a nice walk, raises your heart rate, increases your breathing, and boosts muscle activity. All of these increases of your body’s systems need to be fueled, meaning, they require sugar. Some of this sugar comes from your bloodstream. And some of it comes from glucose that is stored in your muscles and liver, and this is the key to the 24 hour blood sugar-lowering effect of exercise. Over the 24 blood sugar blood test name hours following exercise your body re-stocks these reserves, slowly but steadily by sucking sugar out of your bloodstream. So why then does exercise sometimes raise blood sugar for a short period of time? The most common way is from stress hormones. Any workout that’s greater than moderate is going to release adrenaline, which is basically pouring sugar into your system. But this doesn’t mean that that strenuous exercise is a bad thing, it just means you need to accept that you may see a slight increase in your blood sugar if you break a sweat. The good news is that adrenaline is a short-acting sugar so your body will essentially clean it up quickly, and you’ll still get that 24 hour lowering effect from your exercise. Another reason when to test your blood sugar levels as to how exercise can increase blood sugar has to do with the availability of insulin in your system. If your insulin level is low, your body can’t move sugar from your blood into the cells where it’s needed. This means that your cells blind are not aware there is any sugar for them to use When this happens they assume there is no sugar available to them so they send out signals for reserves in the liver and kidneys to be used. THIS causes a further increase in blood sugar levels that may already be too darn high to start with. Thank you for watching the Critical Bench YouTube channel. Please leave us some questions or comments below. And be sure to Subscribe to our channel and give this video a great big Thumbs Up!! #diabetes #bloodsugar #bloodglucoselevels #diabetesexercises #diabetestreatment #managingdiabetes #lowerbloodsugar #howtotamecravings #howexerciseaffectsbloodsugar #diabetesandexercise #cutoutsugar #exercisebloodsugar #fitnessbloodsugar #tonyafines #criticalbench
How Does Exercise Affect Blood 🩸 Sugar?
How Does Exercise Affect Blood 🩸 Sugar? [b365ea]