Can cycling help prevent diabetes?
Cycling helps keep your blood sugar stable and reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes. Cycling scientist Joyce David (Ghent University) explains exactly how it works.
Can cycling help prevent diabetes?
After every meal, the sugar, or glucose, level in your blood rises. That's normal: your muscles need that energy to function. Your body then produces insulin, a kind of key that carries the sugar to your muscles. Over time, the glucose level drops again.
Cycling scientist Joyce David (Ghent University) explains what changes once you start cycling.
A second system kicks in
When you cycle or move, another system gets activated. Your muscles then absorb glucose directly from your blood, like a sponge. The result: far fewer spikes throughout the day, and the ones that do occur are flattened out. That means fewer dips, so you feel better overall. In the long run, this leads to less insulin resistance, because your body needs to produce less insulin to process your glucose.
Lower risk of diabetes and overweight
Less insulin resistance means a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and overweight. A large-scale study involving more than 250,000 participants found that people who regularly cycle to work have a significantly lower risk of chronic disease. Not because they're more athletic or run marathons, but simply because they cycle to work every day.
Get on your bike, your body takes care of the rest
You don't need to plan or calculate anything for it. Every bike ride to work automatically puts your metabolism to work.
Link to the Celis Morales et al. (2017) study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28424154/
Ready to start?
Want to easily fit those 20 minutes of cycling enjoyment into your day?
- With bike leasing through Cyclobility, you get started worry-free. Check with your employer to see if it's an option for you.
- Or buy a bike through your mobility budget, or...
- our interest-free bike loan for private individuals
