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I am layman but can somebody explain this? Even if blood sugar level dips during the exercise it comes right back immediately after. Even if you exercise a lot

I am layman but can somebody explain this? Even if blood sugar level dips during the exercise it comes right back immediately after. Even if you exercise a lot, for majority of the day your blood sugar level should be nominal because nobody can exercise at the effort needed to dip your sugar for very long. So does this mean cancer cells are so hungry for sugar that they can't survive even a short term dip in sugar availability?

hallway_monitor 4y ago
Surely there have been studies on simple carbohydrate intake correlated with cancer incidence? I suppose it's hard to do a multi-decade study on something like this but it may be possible to gain evidence.
pimterry 4y ago
> So does this mean cancer cells are so hungry for sugar that they can't survive even a short term dip in sugar availability? It's not a short-term dip, according to the article: > "Examining the cells of these organs, we found a rise in the number of glucose receptors during high-intensity aerobic activity - increasing glucose intake and turning the organs into effective energy-consumption machines, very much like the muscles. We assume that this happens because the organs must compete for sugar resources with the muscles, known to burn large quantities of glucose during physical exercise. Consequently, if cancer develops, the fierce competition over glucose reduces the availability of energy that is critical to metastasis." > "Moreover," she offers, "when a person exercises regularly, this condition becomes permanent: the tissues of internal organs change and become similar to muscle tissue." I.e. exercising lots appears to change the makeup of your organs, so they absorb sugar more aggressively _all the time_ and so cancer cells have to develop in a far more sugar-competitive environment.
- ferrumfist 4y ago
  I'm no doctor, but it makes sense why exercise is also prescribed for countering diabetes in that case. If organs and muscles are "hungrier" for glucose when routinely exercising it seems like it would regulate blood sugar levels.

hallway_monitor 4y ago

Surely there have been studies on simple carbohydrate intake correlated with cancer incidence? I suppose it's hard to do a multi-decade study on something like this but it may be possible to gain evidence.

pimterry 4y ago

> So does this mean cancer cells are so hungry for sugar that they can't survive even a short term dip in sugar availability? It's not a short-term dip, according to the article: > "Examining the cells of these organs, we found a rise in the number of glucose receptors during high-intensity aerobic activity - increasing glucose intake and turning the organs into effective energy-consumption machines, very much like the muscles. We assume that this happens because the organs must compete for sugar resources with the muscles, known to burn large quantities of glucose during physical exercise. Consequently, if cancer develops, the fierce competition over glucose reduces the availability of energy that is critical to metastasis." > "Moreover," she offers, "when a person exercises regularly, this condition becomes permanent: the tissues of internal organs change and become similar to muscle tissue." I.e. exercising lots appears to change the makeup of your organs, so they absorb sugar more aggressively _all the time_ and so cancer cells have to develop in a far more sugar-competitive environment.

ferrumfist 4y ago
I'm no doctor, but it makes sense why exercise is also prescribed for countering diabetes in that case. If organs and muscles are "hungrier" for glucose when routinely exercising it seems like it would regulate blood sugar levels.