Ep.74 - Original Recording
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Sheree: [00:00:00] So there have been two studies published recently.
The first one being that doing 10 body weight squats. Every 45 [00:00:08] minutes during an eight and a half hour period of sitting is actually more effective at regulating your blood sugar levels than going for a [00:00:16] single 30 minute walk.
Welcome to the wild and well, a collective podcast [00:00:24] where we believe empowered health is your superpower. We have combined our expertise in medicine and nutrition to bring you the latest research, expert insights [00:00:32] and success stories of people on a mission to live a big life. So buckle up and get ready to learn how to live wildly [00:00:40] well.
Sheree: Welcome back to another episode of the Wild and Well Collective. [00:00:48] Let's just dive right in. Sitting is One of those things that has become really well known as being the new [00:00:56] smoking, right? Sitting for hours at a time. It's not just going to affect your energy. It's not just going to affect your metabolism in terms of putting on weight.
It can [00:01:04] seriously disrupt your blood sugar levels and the ability for your body to control your blood sugar levels. Now, today we're going to dive into some of the studies [00:01:12] and some of the research that support what you can do to really regulate your metabolic health and your blood sugar management, because that is.
One of the [00:01:20] foundational principles in supporting your metabolism. Would you agree, Krista?
Christa: A hundred percent. I think that [00:01:28] we as a population vastly underestimate the power of movement in health span, which is the amount of time in your [00:01:36] life that you are healthy and capable and able to do the things that you want to And we, a lot of us don't even understand the impact, the [00:01:44] huge impact that moving muscle. Has on your metabolic health or the way that your body manages and, [00:01:52] you know, shifts blood sugar. And unfortunately, on top of that, a lot of us have a sedentary [00:02:00] lifestyle. You get up. You sit down for breakfast, you get in the car, you drive to work.
Then you get to the office. Most jobs involve a [00:02:08] lot of sitting at a desk at a whatever and then you drive home and then you get home, you make dinner, you sit on the couch. So there's a lot [00:02:16] of sitting going on. You look at how much, even those of us who say, oh, I'm not really sedentary. I get up and I move when you look at [00:02:24] the amount of hours that you're actually not standing, not moving for the majority of people and the majority of jobs that requires a lot of [00:02:32] stationary sitting.
And so that's a problem when we talk about, you know, metabolic health, really being the foundation of. [00:02:40] Downstream other problems that we have in our health long term. Cardiovascular disease, brain disease. [00:02:48] Cancers all of those can be really brought down. Or improved or statistically better if you are [00:02:56] healthy metabolically, if your blood sugars and your insulin are well balanced.
So things that we can do really do start with more [00:03:04] movement. And I call them movement snacks. They're just little moments during the day. And Cherie, share with us there. I [00:03:12] know that you had just pointed out a study that you saw. How simple this movement snack can actually be.
Sheree: Yeah. So there have been two [00:03:20] studies published recently.
The first one being that doing 10 body weight squats. Every 45 minutes during [00:03:28] an eight and a half hour period of sitting is actually more effective at regulating your blood sugar levels than going for a single 30 minute [00:03:36] walk. So let's just break that down for a second, because a lot of us think as long as I hit my step count.
And again, I encourage you to have some sort of wearable, [00:03:44] even just to look at where you're at can be really, really empowering. The reason this works more effectively with 10 bodyweight squats every [00:03:52] 45 minutes is one, because you are standing up more frequently, right? So you are getting the body moving, the concept of sitting is the new smoking, and the way Krista just described it.
[00:04:00] described. We're constantly sitting throughout the day. So can we break up the time that we're sitting to encourage our bodies to get more [00:04:08] energy and to support this glucose uptake? But the other component of this is doing the squats recruited big muscle [00:04:16] groups. Not that you don't recruit those while you're walking, but the constant recruitment of the quadriceps, your hamstrings, your gluteal muscles [00:04:24] was what really encouraged that glucose uptake a lot more effectively than this one off 30 minute instance of [00:04:32] exercise.
Christa: Yeah. And I think most people could, if you really, you know, it's as simple as setting an alarm on your phone for [00:04:40] every. 45 minutes to ding or even at the top of every hour, let's say. And getting up and doing 10 air [00:04:48] squats. Like that seems pretty simple. I think most people could figure out a way to do that.
That's going to take you 30 seconds
do a [00:04:56] squat and engage those big muscles. I've told people for a long time that, you know, if you're going to have a big meal that day, [00:05:04] let's just use Thanksgiving. Most people are eating a big meal on that day in the U S. To do a leg workout that morning, you will be burning [00:05:12] calories, you will be utilizing, I should say, you'll be utilizing glucose more efficiently throughout the entire day versus [00:05:20] eating these large meals and not.
Because the muscles are a glucose sponge, the muscle tissue doesn't require [00:05:28] insulin the way other tissues do to utilize that energy. So, it's the more muscle you have, the healthier your muscle is, [00:05:36] the more efficient you are, because those, that tissue absorbs that glucose as you're eating food. And as a reminder, every time that [00:05:44] we eat anything, whether it's straight sugar or not, protein, for example, is going to be converted into glucose.
So, it's really, really helpful [00:05:52] for those cells to be healthy, to be more prevalent. to be used. Because the more that they're used, the more that they're going to [00:06:00] need more energy. So it's going to help throughout, you know, every hour at the top of the hour, activating those muscles are going to help you [00:06:08] over time to be more insulin sensitive, to be able to utilize glucose more efficiently.
And that takes a huge burden off of the pancreas. [00:06:16] It also, you know, to most people, I think you can fit that into your day. It's something, I mean, to me, this is like the best news ever. [00:06:24] You know, that studies have shown that this could be just as effective because not everybody makes time, takes time or has time.[00:06:32]
Everybody has time, but they make excuses to not have time to go do an hour long workout. But turns out this could be [00:06:40] just as effective, if not more effective your overall health.
Sheree: I love that. And. Again, I think it can be surprising. A lot of people go, yeah, I [00:06:48] think on average I probably do my 8, 000, 10, 000 and just for context, the 10, 000 was kind of pulled out of thin air.
A lot of the [00:06:56] research now supports that seven and a half to 8, 000 as like the lower end of the range, but that should be an absolute
baseline for everyone it might help [00:07:04] with your fitness and that sort of thing, but it's not going to move the needle ginormously on a metabolic as a metabolic health, you know, or. Increase increasing your basal metabolic [00:07:12] rate dramatically, right? That's a great range to be aiming for that seven and a half eight thousand to ten K That's where the science is supporting.
The [00:07:20] other thing to be mindful of is that another study supported, which this may fit a little bit better with you because I can just imagine myself if I was sitting in an office and I had [00:07:28] to every 45 minutes get up and do 10 air squats at my desk and there were people that could see me. I'd feel a little bit.
I'd probably take myself to the bathroom and [00:07:36] like do them there and then people would think I had some sort of bowel issue because I'm going every 45 minutes. You know, we can get past that. But [00:07:44] the other study that came out that was so interesting because we know and we've talked about this a number of times in the podcast.
If you go for a walk after [00:07:52] a meal, you're far more effective at that glucose uptake as well. So, this research paper in particular supported the fact that instead of [00:08:00] going for, again, that 30 minute walk or 45 minute walk to regulate your blood sugars or get your steps in, for example, [00:08:08] doing 10, three 10 minute walks per day right after a meal, so say your breakfast, lunch, and dinner, [00:08:16] Was far more effective than that one off 45 minute walk because it actually supported your body's again, glucose [00:08:24] uptake, your regulation of your insulin and everything.
. So far more easy to fit in that movement snack that Christmas mentioned, then crap, I gets the end of the [00:08:32] day. I'm pretty tired. I don't want to go for a walk right now,
Or, you know, your alarm goes off in the morning and maybe it's one of those days you're a little bit more exhausted, but if, you know, [00:08:40] After breakfast, you can do a little bit of a 10 minute circuit, maybe around your house or, you know, you leave the office for 10 minutes after lunch and just quick little walk [00:08:48] around the block.
Like there's so many easy ways to get this team. Maybe it's going up and down the stairs a couple of times in your office building. Like there's so many ways to get these 10 minutes in.
Christa: [00:08:56] Oh, for sure. I mean, I think movement after meals. I've seen it. Wearing a continuous glucose monitor can be really, really helpful and you can actively see [00:09:04] your blood sugar going down post meal.
And that's really cool. It's like, wow, you see that in action where the [00:09:12] muscles are actually utilizing that glucose. And it takes more of a burden off of, like I said before, off the pancreas, pushing out insulin, because your body is [00:09:20] kind of got a couple of actions here that's moving glucose out, and the more we have steady blood sugar, the less spikes we have in [00:09:28] inflammation, because higher blood sugars is inflammatory to the blood vessels, to the surrounding tissues.
So, we want to be [00:09:36] able to, you know, blood sugar is always going to rise when we eat. That's natural, but we want to get that back down to baseline pretty quickly. And so, yes, [00:09:44] like you said, if it's not convenient or. It's going to be odd that you're doing squats at the hour, every hour, then [00:09:52] do what you can, but there's a couple of options then to, yeah, walking the stairs, walking around the parking lot, doing something post [00:10:00] meal is going to make a huge difference as well.
Sheree: And this isn't to discourage, like I love going for a decent 45 minute walk, make sure I'm, you know, getting out in [00:10:08] nature. I'll quite often connect with a friend. So this doesn't diminish the fact, and we don't want to detract from what you may be doing so beautifully, but we just wanted [00:10:16] to give you some options here that it can be easy.
It can be easy to slot into your day. We know we're talking to high performers here. And so [00:10:24] sometimes the idea of trying to fit in movement really isn't effective. And the other side of this is. Strength training, and we've [00:10:32] talked about this from an insulin perspective before, but just to drive it home.
That's one of the other most effective ways [00:10:40] to support that insulin regulation actually resensitize your body to insulin. So if you're someone that has got. Disregulated [00:10:48] blood sugar levels. You're in that pre diabetic or diabetic state, and your insulin has become more and more resistant, or maybe your blood works come back with an insulin resistance.[00:10:56]
Aside from adding something like anositol or berberine, which can help regulate those, the blood sugar walks, the squats [00:11:04] every hour or so, and strength training is going to be some of the biggest things you can do to move the needle here.
Christa: Right. And I don't think that this takes the [00:11:12] place by any means, an actual workout, but if you only have the choice of one or the other, then we're saying, you know, definitely adding [00:11:20] the best case scenario, I think, is to have movement snacks every single day, all day.
And then also have a training session where you are lifting [00:11:28] weights. You are really stimulating muscle throughout your body. Certainly cardiovascular exercises several times a week is important as well. So it's not [00:11:36] meant to take the place of it, but it's meant to add it. And for sure, if you're coming from a completely sedentary space, these are things you want [00:11:44] to really start right away because they're pretty tangible.
They're pretty easy to just. You know, as often as you can, I think that starting [00:11:52] somewhere and it's just really cool when research like this comes out where we're like, oh, it doesn't have to be super complicated. Like, this is just [00:12:00] a habit change a timer setting change to really start to rev your body up and try it.
See how you [00:12:08] feel with energy levels. I think it would be a pretty cool experiment to do your own blood work at the beginning. You know, 3 or 4 months later, check it again, [00:12:16] see how your fasting insulin, your fasting glucose, your A1C has shifted. Obviously doing yourself some favors and cleaning up [00:12:24] diet is going to be helpful too, as far as creating an environment where you're not exposed to a lot of high blood sugars.
But [00:12:32] certainly adding these little things in will make a huge difference, I think, if you keep it consistent.
If you love this episode, [00:12:40] be sure to leave us a review, download and subscribe. If you know someone that could also benefit from this conversation, please share. That's how we spread empowered health. [00:12:48] We'll see you again for another episode of the Wild and Well [00:12:56] Collective.
