Exercise and Exchange Diet


When you combine a diabetic exercise and exchange diet you should always keep in mind that you have to increase your food servings.
In every hour of your strenuous exercise you are burning calories.
You have to compensate your body for that loss, or the fragile balance of your blood sugar levels might be negatively affected.
Therefore you must eat more.
Even hours after your exercise an insulin reaction might occur. Your body will "borrow" sugar from your liver and muscles.
Only after 12-14 hours your body will complete its missing sugar.
On this table you can see how much food you have to eat on each activity.


exercise and exchange diet



Activity LevelBlood SugarFood Servings to Add

Low Activity Level:
Walking or biking
(less than 1/2 hour
or less than 1/2 mile)
Under 80 mg/dl
Over 80 mg/dl
2 fruit
1 fruit
Moderate Activity Level:
(Light exercise
not over 1 hour such as:
walking, biking
jogging, swimming)

Under 80 mg/dl
80-180 mg/dl
180-300 mg/dl
Over 300 mg/dl

2 bread + 1/2 meat
1 bread or 1 fruit
No food to add
Do not exercise
High Activity Level:
Strenuous exercise
over 1 hour

Under 80 mg/dl
80-180 mg/dl
180-300 mg/dl
Over 300 mg/dl

2 bread + 1 meat + 1 fruit + 1 milk
2 bread + 1 meat
1 bread +1 meat
Do not exercise


However, there will be times such as days of strenuous activity in which you'll have to decrease your insulin intake.
But you will do insulin adjustments only after your doctor's clearance and with his advice only!






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