Postmenopausal women who exercise regularly are about half as likely to develop diabetes as their more sedentary counterparts. Even more cases of diabetes might be prevented if overweight women took off pounds as a result of increased activity.

In 1986 investigators mailed a questionnaire to more than 41,000 older women, ages of 55 to 69, to study the effect of physical activity on their risk of developing diabetes over the next 12 years. Women who regularly engaged in any physical activity were 31% less likely to develop diabetes during the study period than women who did not exercise regularly.

Women who exercised more than four times per week had half the risk of diabetes compared with women who never or rarely exercised moderately or vigorously.

American Journal of Public Health January 2000;90:134-138.

COMMENT: Diabetes is a massive problem in this country, and believe me it is a disease you do not want to mess with. For most type 2 (adult onset) diabetes, the problem is the end stage of chronic insulin abuse. Generally, one has consumed sugar, juices and grains in large amounts for many years, generally decades, and the body's glycemic control mechanisms just give up.

Lack of exercise likely contributes to the body's insulin receptor sensitivity mechanisms. I find it particularly encouraging that in this large study of 40,000 women a one third decreased risk of diabetes with simple four times a week activity. A study published a few weeks ago and reviewed in this newsletter was more profound in that it found that ONE HOUR of daily exercise is required for successful long-term weight loss.

This is the New Year and many of us will be making New Year's resolutions. If you are one of those that are including exercise and you need to lose weight or control diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol, I would encourage you to have one hour of exercise per day as your goal. It is important to know that you can split it up, but each segment should be at least 20 minutes long.

A word of caution if you select walking: you will need to gradually increase the intensity over time or it will not work. Eventually, you will need to be nearly light jogging to obtain the same benefits you had when you first started gentle walking as you will become more fit and the same intensity of exercise will not provide the same benefits. Swimming is also an excellent exercise, but I do not recommend it, unless you are not using a chlorine pool. An ocean would be the best choice, but most of us do not have this option. The chlorine is a significant negative toxin that must be addressed and it will impair the overall benefits of the exercise.