By now, we all know that exercise is pretty much essential to our overall health and
wellness. A wealth of research exists to confirm this, all stating that exercise can hep increase insulin sensitivity, lower resting blood glucose, and move stagnant blood. Besides that, exercise can do a whole lot more for the brain, the heart, and your hormones.
What happens if I told you that researchers found a way to receive these benefits without actually exercising?
It seems like we are already almost there. It’s true! In a recent study, obese mice were given the new whole body vibration technique as a means to take the place of exercise. What they found was pretty exciting.
Whole Body Vibration Just as Effective as Exercise
Whole body vibration is exactly as it sounds: participants are placed (either standing or
sitting) on a machine with a vibrating platform. The idea is that the vibrations stimulate the muscles in a way that mimic physical activity.
The authors of the study published in the journal Endocrinology sought to find out if this theory holds true for more than just muscle toning. Specifically, they wanted to look more closely at how this vibration technique could impact obesity and insulin sensitivity in obese mice.
The mice were split into three treatment groups. The first group received 20 minutes of whole-body vibration each day, and the second group walked on a treadmill set to a slight incline for 45 minutes each day. The third group served as a control group and received no treatment.
What they found was that the mice in the first two groups demonstrated strikingly similar
results: they both showed improvements in metabolic functioning, increased muscle mass, and insulin sensitivity.
The two groups even enjoyed slower weight gain when compared to the control group.
Though nothing can quite replace exercise altogether, the results certainly prove to be promising in the quest to treat obesity and diabetes. The next step in this line of research is to replicate the results in humans.
Diabetes & Exercise
Exercise is a crucial part of treatment and prevention of type 2 diabetes. Exercise can improve insulin sensitivity so that glucose can be more efficiently metabolized, thus reducing overall blood glucose levels. For most diabetics, this is the main problem that type 2 diabetes brings.
Exercise can be as simple as a 30-minute walk everyday or a 15-minute high-intensity
interval workout. No matter the exercise, it seems, the body can respond with positive metabolic results.
The study mentioned above goes against all previous research by suggesting that maybe exercise isn’t necessary, after all. Instead, it is believed that many will be able to utilize the whole body vibration technology to shake their muscles into the same results.
Stay tuned for more research to follow. Until then, take advantage of the many benefits that exercise has to offer and go for a lovely evening stroll with a loved one!
[expand title=”References“]
Science Daily. URL Link. Accessed March 31, 2017.
Diabetes. URL Link. Accessed March 31, 2017.
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