The role of exercise in leading a healthy life is well-known but two new studies have found it has further benefits for those who suffer from Type 2 diabetes.

It seems the simple advice of going for a walk after eating may well be the best. The first study conducted by researchers in the UK and Sweden looked at data from 23 population studies and found those who did regular exercise were 26 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those that did no exercise at all.

“Our results suggest a major potential for physical activity to slow down or reverse the global increase in type 2 diabetes and should prove useful for health impact modelling, which frequently forms part of the evidence base for policy decisions,“ said lead author Dr. Andrea Smith, an epidemiologist at the University College London.

While exercising in general is good at staving off conditions such as type 2 diabetes, those that already have the condition are advised to go for a stroll after supper because it helps lower the amount of sugar in the blood. Exercise is thought to help insulin work better on the cells and helps muscles use sugar more effectively.

This comes after a separate study from researchers from Otago University, New Zealand where they found blood glucose levels dropped by 12 percent when type 2 diabetes sufferers walked for 10 minutes after each meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner) – this was compared to walking 30 minutes in one go in any given day which didn’t have the same affect.

“The improvement was particularly striking after the evening meal when the most carbohydrate was consumed and sedentary behaviors were highest,” stated the researchers in their paper.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) nearly 10 percent of the American population have type 2 diabetes and as many as one in three people are on the verge of developing diabetes.

Both studies were published in the journal Diabetologia.