icon-nav-help
Need Help

Submit your question to our team of health care professionals.

icon-nav-current-questions
Current Question

See what's on the mind of the community right now.

icon-conf-speakers-at-a-glance
Meet the Team

Learn more about our world-renowned team.

icon-nav-archives
CWD Answers Archives

Review the entire archive according to the date it was posted.

CWD_Answers_Icon
February 2, 2002

Exercise and Sports

advertisement
Question from Birmingham, Alabama, USA:

I am a 34 year old female with type 1 diabetes for 13 years who has started weightlifting, with a goal of possibly becoming a body builder. I wear an insulin pump, use Humalog, and have no complications. I would like more information on whether it is safe to take some of the “bodybuilding supplements” (specifically, creatine and HMB). Do you have any suggestions on where to find more information on their use in people with type 1 diabetes?

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

There are short-term studies which show creatine has the ability to improve insulin sensitivity. However, a high-protein diet is not well studied in long-term diabetes. Intuitively, this may have negative effects on kidney function. If someone has type�1 diabetes and decides to do this anyway, I would follow urine tests for microalbumin regularly. In addition, retinopathy of significant proportion can theoretically worsen with heavy weight lifting. Certainly, I would not be in favor of irregular use of anabolic steroids.

JTL

[Editor’s comment: See Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in Diabetes.

You might also contact the Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association for their advice.

SS]