Exercise and diabetes — the cheapest medicine
30 minutes a day, five days a week, lowers HbA1c by 0.6-0.7%. The post-meal walk hack alone can drop post-meal sugar by 20-30 mg/dL.
No medicine for diabetes works better than movement. Thirty minutes a day, five days a week, lowers HbA1c by 0.6-0.7% — comparable to many drugs.
What "moderate" means
Talk in full sentences but not sing. Examples: brisk walking (3-4 km in 30 min), cycling on flat ground, swimming steady, dancing, beginner yoga (Surya Namaskar).
The post-meal walk hack
10-15 minutes of walking after lunch and dinner drops post-meal sugar by 20-30 mg/dL. The muscles literally pull glucose out of the blood. Free. No equipment. Works immediately. The highest-leverage habit in diabetes management.
Watch out
On insulin or sulfonylureas? Exercise can drop sugar fast. Carry glucose tabs. Test before/after if possible. Skip exercise when sugar is above 250 with ketones — rest and hydrate first.