USA: Moderate-intensity stair walking for as little as 3 minutes can lower blood sugar and insulin levels, and 10 minutes of stepping is needed to increase insulin sensitivity, a recent study has revealed. Further, stair-stepping for 1, 3, or 10 minutes did not improve antioxidant capacity. The study appears in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases.
Jeff Moore, School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA, and colleagues conducted the study with the objective of examining the effect of moderate-intensity stair-stepping exercise on the glycemic response, and antioxidant capacity (TAC) during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).
For this purpose, 30 participants (women = 12) were made to complete 4 OGTTs during rest or stair walking bouts of 1, 3, and 10 min in a randomized order. During the OGTT, blood was collected at baseline and 30 min and analyzed for glucose, insulin, TAC, and lactate.
Based on the research, the authors found the following:
Glucose concentrations were decreased following the 10 min (−22.69 mg/dL) and 3 min (−15.37 mg/dL) bouts but not the 1 min bout (−6.18 mg/dL).
Insulin concentrations were decreased following the 10 min (−6.11) and 3 min (−2.589 μIU/dL) bouts but not the 1 min bout (−0.37 μIU/dL).
Insulin sensitivity index values showed a significant increase in the 10-min trial (1.81), but not during the 3 min (0.65) or 1 min trial (0.13).
There was no omnibus effect for trial in TAC (p = 0.132, η2 = 0.07).
There was no interaction between trial and time for blood lactate (p = 0.621, η2 = 0.02).
To conclude, short duration, moderate-intensity stair-stepping leads to a decrease in peak postprandial glucose and insulin levels with as little as 3 min but longer (10 min) stepping is needed to also increase insulin sensitivity following a standard glucose challenge. This intervention had no effect on total antioxidant capacity (TAC).
Reference:
The study titled, "Three minutes of moderate-intensity stair walking improves glucose and insulin but not insulin sensitivity or total antioxidant capacity," was published in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.numecd.2021.10.016