November 29, 2023 – If you need to walk to scale back your risk of type 2 diabetes, recent research recommends a speed of not less than 2.5 miles per hour, the equivalent of a brisk walk.
The evaluation was published in British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Previous studies have already shown that frequent hikers have a lower risk, the magazine says. But the required speed was not known. The recent study says that “walking at higher speeds” of two.5 to five miles per hour “was associated with a gradual decline in the risk of type 2 diabetes.”
NBC News reported: “Every 0.6 mph increase in walking speed in the analysis was associated with a 9% lower risk of type 2 diabetes.”
Researchers collected results from ten studies involving greater than 500,000 people from the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom who reported on their walking habits. People who walked at a median speed of two to three miles per hour had a 15% lower risk than those that walked slower. Walking quickly at 3 to 4 miles per hour was related to a 24% lower risk. Walking faster than 4 miles per hour was related to a 39% risk reduction.
According to NBC, the American Diabetes Association recommends taking 10,000 steps or half-hour of walking each day to scale back your risk of diabetes.
“While current strategies to increase walking time and increase the number of steps per day may be a good approach to reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, encouraging people to walk faster is also better,” said the lead creator Study, Ahmad Jayedi. PhD, nutrition researcher at Semnan University of Medical Sciences in Iran.
Brisk walking can reduce body fat, which in turn reduces the danger of type 2 diabetes. He told NBC that walking faster also helps reduce insulin resistance — a built-up tolerance to insulin, a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels.