Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1D) is a diagnosis in which the body destroys its own insulin-producing cells thereby impairing the body’s ability to maintain a normal blood sugar. Children and adults with his diagnosis require insulin therapy to maintain normal blood sugars to prevent high blood sugars.
A cornerstone of therapy incorporated into the management of T1D is a healthy lifestyle including physical exercise. Unfortunately, in patients with T1D, cardiovascular exercise, which is thought to be the most beneficial, can cause severe hypoglycemic episodes, or very low blood sugar episodes, which can then alter cardio-protective pathways and can be associated with greater likelihood of hypoglycemia in the future.
I consider myself very blessed to get to care for all types of kiddos in my practice and I do get to see many competitive and even elite athletes in my patient population. However, in this population of athletes, hypoglycemic episodes during practice and/or games are more common due to the nature of the sport as well as the glucose counterregulatory mechanisms in place in the body at baseline (2).
Recent studies have shown that exercises like Yoga, which offer core strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular exercise, can achieve a good mode of physical activity and provide glucose homeostasis for the patient. To break this down further, this means that Yoga is a way to get a great workout without having multiple episodes of dangerously low blood sugars!
Yoga can and should, of course, be a component of a multifaceted and diverse physical activity regime.
One of my goals with Jeet Victory Yoga is to offer classes tailored to patients with Type 1 Diabetes to encourage a safe physical activity that will not cause adverse effects to the blood sugars overall.
If you are interested in participating in Yoga and you have Type 1 Diabetes, please consult your physician to ensure it is safe for you.