After lunch, you feel like sitting or lying down. But a light walk of a few minutes right after eating makes a difference for your body, and it is one of the easiest ways to move more.
What the research says
In a study of people with type 2 diabetes, walking 10 minutes after each meal lowered blood sugar after eating more than walking 30 minutes at once at another time of day. The total time was the same; only the timing changed.
Why it happens
Moving muscles use the glucose that has just reached your blood. That makes the sugar spike after the meal smaller.
And weight loss?
Walking alone does not work miracles on the scale. What it does is add movement every day without a gym and help close the meal: people who go out for a walk tend not to go back to the kitchen.
How to fit it in
- Start with one meal: dinner is usually the easiest.
- Ten minutes is enough, at a pace where you can still talk.
- Go right after, without waiting more than half an hour.
- No street? Walk around the house, along the building hallway or up and down the stairs.
- Invite someone: walking with company becomes a habit more easily.
Sources
- Reynolds AN, Mann JI, Williams S, Venn BJ. Advice to walk after meals is more effective for lowering postprandial glycaemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus than advice that does not specify timing: a randomised crossover study. Diabetologia. 2016;59(12):2572-2578.
This content is for information only and doesn't replace advice from a doctor or dietitian.
