ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- More than 18 million Americans live with diabetes. Insulin or oral medications are needed to control the disease. However, there's something else that's just as important, but only if it's done right.

Exercise is an important part of health. For diabetics, it could be life-saving. Paul Frickman, an exercise physiologist from Florida Hospital Diabetes Center in Orlando, Fla., says, "A single bout of exercise can help lower your blood sugar for 24 to 72 hours."

But Frickman has some tips. First, don't exercise under certain types of stress. He says, "If you're blood sugar is too high, if you're sick, if it's too cold or too hot outside, all those are stress and actually could cause your blood sugar to go up." Stress releases hormones like epinephrine and cortisol, which increase sugar levels.

Dehydration also raises blood sugar, so drink one cup of water for every 20 minutes of exercise. And it's just as important to keep your level from dropping too low. "The medication is causing your blood sugar to lower as well as the exercise, so that double impact could significantly lower your blood sugars," Frickman says. If levels are below 100, eat 15 grams of carbs with protein before you work out.

Mike Lagnese's blood sugar used to hover around 400 -- well above the healthy range of 70 to 110. He says, "I was overweight, tired all the time, always out of breath." Then, he started exercising. He no longer needs the 180 units of daily insulin that kept him alive. "I feel like I've accomplished something, and I'm really happy," Lagnese says. And he is proof that for diabetics, exercise may be the next best thing to a magic bullet.

The worst time to exercise? First thing in the morning before you eat or take your medicine. Insulin resistance is highest in the morning, so the added stress of exercise may cause blood sugar to rise if no medication is on board.

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