如何保持健康的血糖水平?

Doctors are always telling us to go for a walk — for our mental health, our hearts, our joints, our brains, our sleep, and more. But what about our blood sugar?

醫(yī)生總是告訴我們去散步——為了我們的精神健康、心臟、關節(jié)、大腦、睡眠等等。但是我們的血糖呢?

It's important to maintain healthy levels of blood sugar, or blood glucose (via WebMD). When we eat foods that contain carbohydrates, like potatoes, bread, fruit, and pasta, glucose is released during digestion. It enters the bloodstream and then the pancreas creates insulin, a hormone designed to help the blood glucose penetrate the cells. Once it enters the cells, glucose is used by the body for fuel, and whatever isn't used is stored in the liver for later. Blood sugar is important for brain functioning – if we didn't have enough blood sugar, our brains wouldn't be able to work.

保持健康的血糖水平非常重要。當我們吃含有碳水化合物的食物時，如土豆、面包、水果和意大利面，葡萄糖會在消化過程中釋放出來。它進入血液，然后胰腺產(chǎn)生胰島素，一種幫助血糖進入細胞的激素。一旦葡萄糖進入細胞，它就被身體用作燃料，剩下沒有被使用的都被儲存在肝臟中以備后用。血糖對大腦功能很重要——如果我們沒有足夠的血糖，我們的大腦就無法工作。

Those with high blood sugar may not have enough insulin to let it into the cells and out of the bloodstream, or they have enough, but the cells aren't responding to it. For those with diabetes, blood sugar builds up in the bloodstream and potentially causes long-term damage, increasing the risk for heart disease, heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, nerve damage, and eye disease.

那些高血糖的人可能沒有足夠的胰島素讓它進入細胞或離開血液，或者他們有足夠的胰島素，但細胞對它沒有反應。對于糖尿病患者來說，血糖在血液中積累，可能會造成長期損害，增加心臟病、心臟病發(fā)作、中風、腎病、神經(jīng)損傷和眼病的風險。

How can you maintain healthy blood sugar levels?

如何保持健康的血糖水平?

A healthy diet, regular exercise, and medication can help keep your blood sugar levels in your target range, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And even something as simple as a daily walk can help.

據(jù)美國疾病控制與預防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)稱，健康的飲食、定期鍛煉和藥物可以幫助你將血糖水平保持在目標范圍內。甚至像每天散步這樣簡單的事情也會有幫助。

According to the American Diabetes Association, exercise can help lower blood sugar by making the body more sensitive to insulin, which allows the muscles to use available insulin more readily and allows access to more glucose for energy. Muscle contractions during exercise also allow blood glucose to enter the cells whether or not insulin is available. Physical activity can even lower blood sugar levels for a full 24 hours or more after exercising.

根據(jù)美國糖尿病協(xié)會的說法，運動可以通過使身體對胰島素更敏感來幫助降低血糖，從而使肌肉更容易使用可用的胰島素，并使更多的葡萄糖作為能量。運動過程中的肌肉收縮也允許血糖進入細胞，不管是否有胰島素可用。運動后的24小時或更長時間內，體育活動甚至可以降低血糖水平。

Research shows that in adults aged 60 or older who were inactive and at risk for glucose intolerance, 15-minute walks after each of their three meals per day helped them experience better glycemic control (via American Diabetes Association's Diabetes Care). Surprisingly, these intermittent walks proved to work better for managing blood sugar than one longer walk per day. But according to WebMD, just one 30-minute walk five times per week is enough to prevent diabetes in those who have prediabetes.

研究表明，在60歲或60歲以上不運動且有葡萄糖耐受不良風險的成年人中，每天三餐后15分鐘的步行有助于他們更好地控制血糖(通過美國糖尿病協(xié)會的糖尿病護理)。令人驚訝的是，這些間歇性散步被證明比每天長時間散步更有利于控制血糖。但是根據(jù)WebMD的研究，對于那些患有前驅糖尿病的人來說，每周5次30分鐘的步行就足夠預防糖尿病了。