What role does exercise play in human society

by Tengyue Wang

In our modern society, gyms are present in every city. This has forced us to think about the meaning of the existence of fitness. In other words, what benefits can moderate exercise or fitness bring to people? When we walked into the gym, we found all kinds of people doing different exercises inside. Some people are doing cardio and some are doing strength training. At this point, some people will say that doing exercise can help us shape our bodies better to increase our confidence. I can’t deny to say that this is indeed one of the benefits. But more profoundly, moderate exercise can have a more meaningful impact on people’s bodies.

people on the treadmill(https://www.pexels.com/zh-cn/photo/1954524/)

Due to the rapid development of society, people are under increasing pressure from society and work. This has led to a number of changes in their bodies. Specifically, people suffer from metabolic disorder, high blood sugar, high blood cholesterol, and greatly increase the risk of type-2 diabetes due to sedentary lifestyle, continuous consumption of high-calorie foods, and lack of exercise. Many of you may agree with this situation and feel some concern. At this point, I would like to tell you that doing exercise can greatly improve the situation I mentioned above. You may be skeptical, so let me clarify each of them for you.

What is the meaning of metabolic disorder? Metabolic disorders are a group of conditions that affect the body’s ability to break down or process nutrients, leading to an imbalance in the body’s metabolism. These disorders can be caused by genetic mutations, enzyme deficiencies, or other factors that disrupt normal metabolic processes. One of the factors is called the insulin disorder. Due to the eating habits of people nowadays, they usually choose some fast food. For example, burgers, sandwiches, (high-Carb) and fried chicken. Then, people’s blood sugar levels will change instantly. High-carbohydrate foods, particularly those with a high glycemic index (like white bread, pasta, and sugary snacks), cause rapid spikes in blood sugar levels. In response, the pancreas releases more insulin to help lower blood sugar by enabling glucose to enter the cells. Over time, the constant demand for insulin due to high blood sugar levels can contribute to insulin resistance. When cells become less responsive to insulin, the pancreas needs to produce even more insulin to maintain normal blood sugar levels. The combination of high blood sugar levels and insulin resistance can contribute to the development of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.

Burger and Fires(https://www.pexels.com/zh-cn/photo/2454533/)

Meanwhile, there are several studies that support the argument. For example, Ludwig, D. S. (2002) mentions that glycemic index and its relationship with obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, providing insights into how high-carbohydrate diets may contribute to insulin resistance and other health issues. Another research articles’ Riccardi, G., Giacco, R., & Rivellese, A. A. (2004) mentions that the relationship between dietary fat, insulin sensitivity, and the metabolic syndrome, prove the fried foods and high-carbohydrate diets may contribute to the development of these conditions.

Now, I hope you guys know the seriousness of the problem, right, then please let me answer the question: what exercise can be changed in the above situation. Exercise includes many categories. There are many categories of exercise, including aerobic training, anaerobic training, strength training, etc. But the common result of training is that it helps people to produce myokines in the body. In simple terms, myokines is a group of proteins and peptides secreted by muscle cells (myocytes) in response to muscle contraction during physical activity. They play a key role in cell-to-cell communication and endocrine effects on various organs and tissues of the body. In Particular, there are two types of myokines: Interleukin-6(IL-6) and Irisin. IL-6 helps our muscles use glucose more effectively and burn fat while also reducing inflammation that can cause insulin resistance. Irisin, on the other hand, transforms inactive white fat cells into active brown fat cells that are better at using glucose and burning energy. Both of these myokines work together to make our bodies more efficient at handling sugar and maintaining a healthy metabolism, especially when we exercise regularly. After reading several research articles, they provide a consensus agreement on the statement that the existence of myokine greatly improves people’s body conditions. Pedersen, B. K., & Febbraio, M. A. (2008) argues that IL-6 plays a crucial role in regulating the metabolism disorder and increasing the insulin sensitivity. Simultaneously, there is a research article called “The role of exercise-induced myokines in regulating metabolism” (by Joo Young Huh 2018). The author examines that various myokines are released during physical activity and their impact on metabolic processes, including glucose and lipid metabolism, energy expenditure, and insulin sensitivity. As a result of the experiment, the authors demonstrated that IL-6 and Irisin play a major role in helping insulin sensitivity, metabolic disorder, and inflammation.

All in all, exercise gives us more benefits than we can imagine, given the pressures of today’s society. People should be more concerned about their physical health. In addition to exercise can help us, in this aspect of our diet, we also need to pay attention to eat less high-carb, fried food. It is extremely important to choose to consume some high quality protein and fat. Exercise or fitness should be a part of our daily life so that it can help us to maintain a healthy body all the time. Let’s start exercising now!

Work Cited:

1. Ludwig, D. S. (2002). The glycemic index: physiological mechanisms relating to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. JAMA, 287(18), 2414–2423. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.287.18.2414
2. 2.Riccardi, G., Giacco, R., & Rivellese, A. A. (2004). Dietary fat, insulin sensitivity and the metabolic syndrome. Clinical Nutrition, 23(4), 447–456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2004.02.006
3. Pedersen, B. K., & Febbraio, M. A. (2008). Muscle as an endocrine organ: focus on muscle-derived interleukin-6. Physiological Reviews, 88(4), 1379–1406. https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.90100.2007
4. Huh, J. Y. (2018). The role of exercise-induced myokines in regulating metabolism. Archives of Pharmacal Research, 41(1), 14–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12272-017-0994-y

Picture Cited:

1. William Choquette https://www.pexels.com/zh-cn/photo/1954524/ Oct 6, 2018
2. Rania alhamed https://www.pexels.com/zh-cn/photo/burgers-with-fries-and-tomatoes-2454533/ Apr10,2019