How Exercise Timing Impacts Your Blood Glucose

I ran an n-of-1 experiment testing exercise before or after my smoothie on my blood glucose - and spoiler alert - the impact was huge. Subscribe to Nourishable at / nourishable
00:00 Intro
00:41 Experiment Design
01:12 Day 1 No Exercise
02:13 Day 1 Interpretation
04:56 Day 2 Exercise then Smoothie
05:34 Day 2 Interpretation
08:35 Day 3 Smoothie then Exercise
09:09 Day 3 Interpretation
09:56 Discussion
10:54 Conclusions
Script with in-text citations: bit.ly/3sxjPTi
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Hosting, Research, Writing & Post-Production by Lara Hyde, PhD
www.nourishable.tv
Music & Video Production by Robbie Hyde
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Opening Motion Graphics by Jay Purugganan www.c9studio.com/WP/
The information in this video is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this video is for general information purposes only.
Additional Footage
Photo by Ave Calvar Martinez from Pexels
Dance footage from Urbanity Dance Creative Class performance April 2022, choreographer Danielle Pastuszak
1988 Olympics Jamaican Bobsled Run • Jamaican Bobsleigh Tea...
Animation created with images from BioRender biorender.com/
References
openstax.org/books/anatomy-an...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31175...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31614...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31767...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28202...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23467...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32568...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23072...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27739...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22780...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28974...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35029...
health.gov/sites/default/file...
Our bodies have developed a beautiful, dynamic system to maintain glucose levels, whether you’re hiking a mountain, doing a dance, or snuggling a poodle. It all relates back to supply and demand, what glucose is coming in, what do we have in storage, and what is the demand of the system? Eating carbs supplies the body with glucose. Exercise demands glucose as fuel. But here’s the thing - that timing of supply and demand impacts our metabolism, and manipulating that timing can impact health. To get some data on how exercise timing impacts blood glucose responses, I’ve designed a little n of 1 experiment. Each day, I’ll drink an identical smoothie for breakfast. One day I’ll refrain from exercising before or for 2 hours after my smoothie, one day I’ll exercise immediately after my smoothie, and the other day I’ll exercise immediately before. I’m using a continuous glucose monitor which measures a proxy of my blood glucose every 5 minutes. The goal with today’s set up is to get a sense of my baseline postprandial glycemic response. Glucose is delivered to cells through the blood, but this glucose can’t just diffuse directly into cells. When GLUT4 is in the membrane then glucose slides through to get into the cell, but when GLUT4 is absent then glucose is trapped outside. GLUT4 isn’t always in the cell membrane. Often it is stored in little balloon-like vesicles inside cells. Inserting GLUT4 into the membrane requires a signal from the hormone insulin. The goal of insulin is to lower glucose levels by signaling cells to insert their pre-made GLUT4s into the membrane. When I start exercising, we actually see my glucose level rise because my muscles required extra fuel. The muscle started off by using glycogen - a whole bunch of glucose units all bound together. It turns out that contracting muscles causes those GLUT4 doorways to get inserted into the membrane without any help from insulin, allowing the muscle to take in glucose from the blood. This is called insulin-independent GLUT4 translocation - because GLUT4 is getting inserted into the membrane without insulin’s help. So that’s what we see here, we see my glucose level dipping a bit because my exercising muscles are taking in glucose from the blood. Since this exercise was pretty intense, it caused the stress hormone adrenaline to be secreted[6]. Adrenaline triggers the liver to breakdown some of its glycogen and release glucose into the blood. That’s what we see here with the rise in my glucose level during exercise - my glucose was rising because the liver was providing fuel for working muscle.

[@racquinox]

I'm so happy to have found a channel talking about health from a scientific perspective rather than fads and conspiracies. Thank you 🙏

[@MrCvdx12]

I exercised before eating breakfast for around a month and my weight decreased by 10 -15 lbs Thanks for the great informations

[@jonathanmein7907]

Very well done and informative! Keep it up, Dr. Lara!

[@scotthelsel1464]

Thank you for adding the graphics. It helped me understand how the mechanism of Glut 4 works. Great explainer on how exercise can immediately impact your blood sugar!

[@diegoplanes7183]

I have to say, i discovered your channel and the content is pretty amazing. Thanks a lot.

[@uncleterb7128]

Finally a doctor that is actually talking in their area of expertise, and not some half baked m.d. misrepresenting their credentials for the sake of $. I've subscribed, with sincere thanks for your philanthropic resource.

[@jennyshanespitler4033]

Thank you Dr. Lara For the great info ❤👏

[@bjmorgan3092]

This is very informative. I learned about the Glut4 and how glucose get into the cell. I love your demonstration.

[@CalmVibesVee]

Excellent and inspiring. Thank you.

[@pavelzin]

I knew all of this, but the way you presented it here is really great. It really shows you know what you are talking about. Thank you.

[@carolineyunker9]

I think it's clear that exercise AFTER eating is optimal. It's more even. But any excercise is better than no exercise.

[@josemarcos6441]

The best and clear vídeo On the subject I ever seen. Thank you.. 👏👏🇧🇷

[@pradanal.m.r.8276]

Could you please make a video of how exercise helps diabetes person? I have a hard time explaining it to my mom and my best friend, and your explanation actually very simple and user friendly for common people

[@nourishedbyscience]

Nice and fun video, Lara!

[@tatip2996]

Thanks for the great content!!!

[@mindofown]

Excellent explanation with real life data, thanks

[@michaelmurphy2795]

Great job. Thanks for putting a little science into my beliefs. I was diagnosed with Pre-diabetes and I am trying to reverse it. I have changed my diet, meditation daily, and use supplements. I try to have 1 cheat meal a week. I walk 30 minutes to the restaurant and 45 minutes after. It seems that my hypothesis might be right about exercise and blood glucose.

[@videogazer801]

This is a great video. Don’t have many more like this?

[@bleo4485]

Thanks for the video, very informative. It would be good if you could also have a video on fasting, and its impact on women's hormone.

[@johnathonlivingston7573]

Great info!

[@uvel666]

Great info

[@MrCvdx12]

Some articles i have read says that exercise after eating redirects blood away from digestive system to the muscles being exercised, for them this is not good since digestion needs to be prioritized after eating

[@fabrad72]

Awesome 👏

[@katlinrivers]

Thank you!! I’ve been struggling with hypoglycemia post exercise for some reason, and this is helpful in my mission to figure out how to prevent this!

[@chrisgrui1993]

Same problem here. Did you do some test already?

[@user-je3lq1rw2g]

thank you 😀

[@kalaivignesh]

I'm a computer science background person, i loved your explanation and the content you produce... I saw digestion foundation and it's interesting and metabolism foundation too.. it bit sciencey because of chemical reactions...but it would have been much useful when I'm from a science background person...trying to learn about my body through your videos...thanks for your knowledge ❣️

[@jyotirishirishi7591]

Super excellent ❤❤❤❤

[@yoh.3230]

Very good stuff

[@ChicagoJ351]

This video was perfect for me. Appreciate the experiment. I’m a fitness person, have a good diet (usually), and have normal blood sugar levels when I visit my doctor for a checkup. However, around 9:30 - 10:00am, I have a drop in energy every day. Usually, I have my first meal and am fine. But, right after that second small meal, I get hit with sluggishness. I have to eat because I’m hungry. Then, boom, get tired. I’ve been trying to figure out why I get this energy drop for some time as it’s a constant battle. But, sometimes i don’t get it at all and have perfect energy all day. I’ve been trying to figure it out. This provides some info about it. It’s too bad those glucose monitors require a prescription. Most of us don’t have one. I’ll ask for one next doctor visit. And will experiment with foods , consistency in workouts, and timing to try and optimize this.

[@user-qp1wo4uf5k]

What is the best time to exercise. Before taking a meal or after a meal.

[@nmlaski]

very very informative and so well explained, I would love to see the exact same test but with fasting, I mean, no smoothie at all, I do IF OMAD and I train really hard always with fasting (I'm an amateur runner, I break my fasting after training) I wonder what happens in this particular case. Thank you for the video, sorry for my bad english, cheers from Argentina

[@josefinalin3489]

Thank you for the experiments and sharing the results. Very informative! Have a question: how far after eating yields the best result? Within 30 minutes after finishing the meal? Within 60 minutes? …

[@christianwhite369]

Nice information! I’ve been taking dextrose in my post workout protein shake for last year to hep restore energy and this science helps me understand how it works. Is it true dextrose can help protein synthesis in muscles?

[@patrickwalsh8933]

Based on your other video. 30 minutes of walking before a meal does not significantly blunt a glucose spike But a 7 minute HIIT session before a meal does nullify a significant spike and maintain a relatively steady glucose level. Can that HIIT session be measured via Heart Rate so one has a approximate intensity goal to reach for 7-10 minutes? Vs say heart rate via walking. Personally if I go too intense with a workout regardless if I’ve eaten (say outright sprinting or heavy lifting) feels like I go through a significant blood sugar spike that takes a long time to go down. Prefer walking to address glucose levels but want to experiment with finding that sweet spot of intensity with exercise measured via heart rate so I don’t overdo it and may be able to prevent a spike with less time and more heart healthy activity. Ty for all the great work

[@Omeostatica]

In the "exercise and then smoothie" you should have measured blood glucose before starting exercise, I suppose that starting from a lower blood glucose can help a lot even if there is a peak. I've the doubt that before exercise you blood glucose was higher than baseline reported in your diagram. Furthermore high intensity exercise can increase blood glucose so you should have expect 30-60 min before eating.

[@joshgraham1662]

Hi there I have been experiencing reactive hypoglycaemia after my exercise any tips for this ? Blood sugar spikes and drops following exercise carb meals , this only happens when I am in a calorie deficit

[@sherrygaley4675]

What I find even more interesting is that my fasting glucose on waking day 2 is lower after physical activity in the morning on day 1. How to explain this?

[@reddyshekharnaiduy5680]

❤️❤️

[@ebeysam]

Can Someone help me make the right decision - I have been a prediabetic past ten years - 66-year old male in India. 6 ft - and 157 pounds - No diabetes medication. Taking a statin drug and blood thinner due to keep my cholesterol levels down. With exercise, dieting - includes a cup and half of rice every day - I am able to keep my PP blood sugar under 200. Some times it goes up to 220. Should I start medication ?

[@rellimarual]

I’m trying to use this info but find that exercising 30 minutes after I *start* eating (so about 15 minutes after I finish) is giving me a stomach ache and mild discomfort. Too soon?

[@onthebuses]

Scotland Watching 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿📡🇨🇦

[@RKYou2]

Will exercise after eating affect digestion adversely in any way? Please advise.

[@workoutbinodpro6555]

i do intense weight lifting 2 hrs after eating huge meal, more energy 😂

[@WajidAli-qy2tc]

Doc

[@kahlonamrit284]

👍👍👍👍

[@comptegoogle511]

HIIT on an empty stomach.. I think I'm gonna pass on that one. Good explanation.

[@loveobviously]

I knew that photo on your wall looked familiar. It’s the bowe river

[@Nourishable]

It's Peyto Lake in Banff National Park!

[@WajidAli-qy2tc]

Gorgeous 😍

[@AI_admin]

I'm curious, why are you doing these studies on yourself only???? as we all know, results vary on different people, you need to do these studies with a lot of people? I am insulin resistant, so my results would differ again.

[@marinak6380]

1. I cant exercise on an empty stomach / in the morning, but at what level should I begin exe after eating? 2) how were u able to get a gcm tracker script without being diabetic?

[@stevehillsdon5956]

cant think of a worst breakfast!