According to a new research a few minutes of intense exercise a week has just as beneficial an effect if not more as half an hour a day of moderate activity has to reduce a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Dr. James A. Timmons of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, one of the researchers on the study, told Reuters Health, "It is possible to gain significant health benefits from only 7.5 minutes of exercise each week -- if that is all that you find the time to do. This is a dramatically different view from current thinking,"

In the study Timmons and his colleagues found that young men with a sedentary lifestyle who managed only 15 minutes of fast paced sprinting on an exercise bike spread over the period of two weeks substantially improved their ability to metabolize glucose.

The high intensity burst of exercise not only managed to boost sensitivity to the key blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin like traditional aerobic exercise but also managed to directly reduce the men's blood sugar levels, which regular exercise programs have not been seen to manage.

They undertook a study of 16 men in there early 20's do six sessions of exercise, each including four to six 30-second sprints interspersed with four-minute rest periods the total time ranging from 17 to 26 minutes. After two weeks the researchers noted that after the men drank a solution containing 75 grams of glucose the amount of time their blood sugar and blood insulin levels remained above normal was reduced by 12% and 37 % respectively.

The reason for this said Timmons was that blood sugar levels rise when people eat but in the case of very fit people the levels return to normal very quickly while in people who are not so active the high blood sugar levels last for a longer period and over time this can harm the body and lead to heart problems.

Although the current exercise recommendations are 30 minutes of exercise a day at least five days a week, but in the journal BMC Endocrine Disorders the investigators said "the general population fails to follow such regimes due to lack of time, motivation and adherence".

Timmons told Reuters Health, people 20 to 40 years old who are in good health but not fit should try for four to six 30-second bouts of intense exercise, such as cycling or running up stairs, twice a week but in the case of people with diabetes or heart disease should gradually increase their activity under a doctor's supervision.

Timmons added that high intensity short duration exercise could one day replace current physical activity guidelines. "Only large scale trials could prove this," he said. "But there is mounting evidence that doing this new protocol will deliver the same reductions in risk factors. The key thing with exercise is the more routine you make it, the more likely you will benefit."

Following similar principles a cycling team founded five years ago has over 50 members who are fighting diabetes and proving that despite having diabetes they can achieve any goals they desire. Joe Eldridge, co founder of Team Type 1 was diagnosed with diabetes at age 10. He said there were many diabetics in the cycle race who kept their disease a secret out of fears of social stigma. This month Team Type 1 is competing in the Amgen Tour of California.