Exercise, Diabetes, and Pacman

Now what does Pacman have to do with diabetes, and for those newbies, what the hell is Pacman.

This analogy was inspired by my youngest Type 1 in the household.

Let me explain.

We were trying to explain to our daughter how exercise helps with diabetes control.

So my wife said to her that when she runs, bike, jumps around, and is active the sugar in her blood get gobbled up, and then she did the sound effects, "gobble, gobble, gobble" while tickling her.  I thought to myself wow that's a great way to explain the concept.

If you actually think about it, we exercise and any excess glucose circulating is used up in two ways.  First, it get gobbled up like the old video game Pacman by our muscle cells for energy.  Second it get gobbled up by our Liver to replenish the good old glycogen stores.

So the next time you are exercising or encouraging your loved one to exercise just think Pacman, or Mrs Pacman, depending on your preference.

I still smile when I think about my kid giggling and my wife saying "gobble, gobble, gobble!"

Cheers!

Trev