Research
Hormonal
Exercise increases circulating undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) levels, which is associated with increased whole-body insulin sensitivity.
Exercise naturally increases osteocalcin levels, which helps improve insulin sensitivity. You don't need to target this specifically; regular physical activity is sufficient to trigger this beneficial hormonal response.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
In an in vivo human model, we reported that exercise leads to increased circulating ucOC levels which in turn was associated with increased whole-body insulin sensitivity
Why this rating
Supported by human observational data and rodent mechanistic studies, but not yet a standalone intervention.
Source
The role of bone in energy metabolism: A focus on osteocalcin
Cassandra Smith et al. · Bone · 2024
DOI 10.1016/j.bone.2024.117238
narrative_reviewCited 21×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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- Exogenous administration of undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) improves whole-body and skeletal muscle glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity in animal models, though human evidence remains discordant.Moderate
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