Diabetes: this ultra-simple technique helps reduce blood sugar

Our mental health contributes to our physical health. By improving our psychological well-being, we can reduce the risk of suffering from certain diseases. Researchers demonstrate this in the specialized journal Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine. They found that techniques of relaxation may be as effective as drugs in lowering blood sugar in people with Type 2 diabetes.

The effects of different relaxation techniques on blood sugar

“About 66% of Americans with type 2 diabetes use relaxation techniques, and many do so because they think it helps control their blood sugar. explain the authors. Until now, however, the ability of mental practices to lower blood sugar has never been rigorously quantified..”

To do this, the team carried out a meta-analysis: that is to say, it gathered the data from around twenty trials devoted to the Type 2 diabetes, conducted between 1993 and 2022, where participants used a relaxation technique. Among the latter, there was in particular meditation, qigong, yoga or mindfulness. “All practices achieve significant reductions in blood sugar levels.” note the authors, scientists from the Los Angeles School of Medicine. Overall, these practices resulted in an average reduction of 0.84%, hemoglobin A1c, a measure of blood sugar average over the last three months. Yoga had the most beneficial effects: a 1% reduction in this indicator. If the figure seems low at first, the authors point out that this drop is significant because metformin, the most prescribed drug against diabetes, reduces hemoglobin A1c by 1.1% on average.

Relaxation techniques as a type 2 diabetes prevention tool?

“We expected there to be a benefit, but we never imagined it would be so significant.”, notes Fatimata Sanogo, lead author of this study. Faced with these encouraging results, the researchers believe that these different practices could become recommendations for people with Type 2 diabetesin addition to drug treatments, but also a means of prevention, especially for people at risk.

“This could be an important tool for many people because type 2 diabetes is a major chronic health problem.continues Fatimata Sanogo. Although this study does not address it as a preventative measure, it does suggest that it may help people with pre-diabetes reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the future.” According to’Insermgenetic combinations or intestinal flora can increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but the main cause is the lifestyle: diet too fatty, too sweet, sedentary lifestyle, etc.