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  "path": "/health/type-2-diabetes-blood-sugar-control-exercise-timing",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-16T14:18:46.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "UK Covid jab programme hailed as 'extraordinary feat' but chair warns payout scheme fails victims",
    "NHS records busiest month ever for A&Es after meningitis outbreak and 'prolonged winter'",
    "'Breakthrough' dementia treatments costing up to £90k questioned over limited patient benefits",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nWhen people exercise may matter just as much as whether they exercise at all, particularly for those managing Type 2 diabetes, new research has revealed.\n\nThe comprehensive review, published in the journal Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, examined numerous previous studies comparing morning workouts with later-day physical activity, assessing their effects on metabolic health in both healthy individuals and diabetics.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nIts conclusions proved particularly significant for the millions living with Type 2 diabetes. According to the analysis, exercising in the afternoon or evening produced substantial and enduring improvements in blood sugar regulation.\n\nConversely, identical workouts performed first thing in the morning frequently resulted in elevated glucose levels and diminished insulin responses.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe explanation for this disparity lies in what scientists term the \"dawn phenomenon,\" according to Professor of physiology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and senior author of the review, Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson.\n\nIn virtually everyone, cortisol levels surge upon waking as the stress hormone helps rouse us from sleep while simultaneously triggering the liver to release stored glucose.\n\nFor those with healthy metabolisms, the pancreas responds by producing insulin, which channels that sugar into muscles for energy.\n\nHowever, diabetics generate insufficient insulin and resist its effects, meaning their blood sugar climbs and remains elevated each morning. Vigorous early exercise amplifies cortisol further, releasing additional glucose that diabetic muscles cannot efficiently absorb.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nOne study examined in the review tracked middle-aged men with Type 2 diabetes who undertook identical intensive exercise programmes at different times. The results proved striking.\n\nThose who trained in the afternoon achieved lower, healthier glucose readings that persisted for up to 24 hours afterwards.\n\nBy contrast, the same regimen completed in the morning left participants with raised blood sugar and compromised insulin sensitivity, effects that similarly endured for hours.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:\n\n\n\n\n  * UK Covid jab programme hailed as 'extraordinary feat' but chair warns payout scheme fails victims\n  * NHS records busiest month ever for A&Es after meningitis outbreak and 'prolonged winter'\n  * 'Breakthrough' dementia treatments costing up to £90k questioned over limited patient benefits\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"Most studies report higher postexercise glucose levels in individuals with type 2 diabetes in the morning compared with the afternoon,\" the review authors wrote, confirming a consistent pattern across multiple investigations.\n\nDespite these findings, the researchers emphasised that physical activity at any hour remains preferable to inactivity.\n\n\"The most important message remains that exercise at any time is better than no exercise at all,\" said Juleen Zierath, a physiologist at the Karolinska Institute and co-author of the review.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nFor diabetics who favour early morning sessions, Wallberg-Henriksson recommends keeping the intensity modest.\n\nGentler activities such as brisk walking do not appear to produce the same problematic time-dependent effects as more strenuous exertion.\n\nTrine Moholdt, an exercise scientist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology who was not involved in the review, noted that for most people, the optimal exercise time remains simply whenever they can manage it.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Type 2 diabetes breakthrough as scientists find best time to exercise for blood sugar control"
}