Mind-body practices lower blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes
All practices achieve significant reductions in blood sugar levels

The team analyzed data from randomized controlled trials conducted across the globe between 1993 and 2022. They found 28 trials in which people with type 2 diabetes began a mind-body practice in addition to receiving medication and compared their results with people who only received medication to reduce their blood sugar levels.

This study, the first to analyze a range of mind-body practices including meditation, qigong, yoga and mindfulness-based stress reduction and their effect on blood glucose levels, revealed that all mind-body practices led to significant reductions in blood sugar levels.

Taken as a whole, the mind-body practices averaged a .84% reduction in hemoglobin A1c, a measure of the average blood glucose level for the past 3 months. Yoga, the most-studied modality, provided the largest benefit, about a 1% reduction in hemoglobin A1c. The authors noted that a 1% reduction is particularly notable because metformin, the most prescribed diabetes drug, reduces hemoglobin A1c in people with type 2 diabetes by 1.1% on average.

“What is important about this study is that the effect is very strong and that it is on top of the standard of care,” said Richard M. Watanabe, PhD, professor of population and public health sciences and physiology and neuroscience at the Keck School of Medicine, noting that the research revealed that mind-body practices helped participants achieve reductions in blood glucose levels on top of the reductions they were getting from medication.
https://keck.usc.edu/news/mind-body-practices-lower-blood-sugar-levels-in-people-with-type-2-diabetes/

Effect of 6 Months of Meditation on Blood Sugar, Glycosylated Hemoglobin, and Insulin Levels in Patients of Coronary Artery Disease
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5934947/

Effects of Buddhist walking meditation on glycemic control and vascular function in patients with type 2 diabetes
Results
After 12 weeks, maximal oxygen consumption increased and fasting blood glucose level decreased significantly in both groups (p < 0.05). Significant decrease in HbA1c and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were observed only in the WM group. Flow-mediated dilatation increased significantly (p < 0.05) in both exercise groups but arterial stiffness was improved only in the WM group. Blood cortisol level was reduced (p < 0.05) only in the WM group.

Conclusion
Buddhist walking meditation exercise produced a multitude of favorable effects, often superior to traditional walking program, in patients with type 2 diabetes.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0965229916300346