Can walking lower blood sugar and relieve flatulence? How many steps should you take after eating? Who should avoid strenuous exercise?
What can best help digestion after eating? Past studies have found that light exercise such as walking after eating can help stabilize blood sugar, reduce flatulence, improve sleep, and promote heart health. However, intense and excessive exercise at the wrong time may have the opposite effect, leading to indigestion, stomachache, etc. How should you exercise and walk to achieve the best health results?
Can walking after meals relieve flatulence, lower blood sugar, and improve diabetes?
The widely recognized benefit of walking after meals is that it can help relieve flatulence. According to a Japanese study, walking 4,000 to 9,500 steps after meals can help improve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome patients by 50%. Researchers believe that when the body is in a moving state, it will stimulate the digestive system in the body and help digest food. However, it is worth noting that this study was conducted on the irritable bowel syndrome group and may not be applicable to all groups. A research team from the University of Heidelberg in Germany believes that walking after meals can indeed promote gastric digestion, but it will not affect gastrointestinal symptoms.
Another benefit of walking after meals is that it can lower blood sugar levels and help blood sugar become more stable. Blood sugar in the body rises after a meal, especially after eating a lot of carbohydrates. When blood sugar rises, the body secretes insulin to lower blood sugar. Walking after a meal can help burn calories, promote the decomposition of carbohydrates, and make insulin work more smoothly. In addition, according to research from the University of Otago in New Zealand, walking after meals can effectively reduce blood sugar concentrations in people with diabetes.
In addition to the above benefits, walking after meals can also reduce stress hormones and release endorphins in the body, thereby improving mood; it can even relieve insomnia symptoms and allow for a deeper sleep at night; lower blood pressure and reduce the load on the heart.
If your blood pressure is too low, don’t run around after eating. If you suffer from coronary heart disease, you should take a walk after eating within your ability.
In this regard, it seems that walking after a meal offers quite a few benefits. However, walking after meals is not suitable for everyone. If you take a walk immediately after eating too much, it can easily cause gastroptosis, which can lead to gastric colic or even stomach problems. Another group of people to pay attention to are those who are prone to anemia and hypotension. Taking a walk after a meal is more likely to cause cerebral ischemia and cause dizziness. For cardiovascular groups, such as patients with coronary heart disease and angina pectoris, walking immediately after a meal may cause myocardial infarction. It is recommended to rest for 1 hour before starting to walk.
Finally, how long and how long should you go for a walk after a meal? If calculated in terms of steps, research from Harvard University shows that adults walking 7,500 steps a day has achieved sufficient health benefits. If it exceeds or falls below 7,500 steps, it may not have such a big impact on the body, so there is no need to force yourself. To reach the “10,000 steps”, the most important thing is to choose a walking length that is within your ability.
Therefore, taking a walk after a meal is indeed a good health habit, but exercising high-intensity after a meal may have negative benefits. Since the digestion process starts in the mouth after eating and lasts for several hours, strenuous exercise at this time will cause indigestion and may also cause stomach discomfort. Low-intensity walking should be used as post-meal exercise to achieve the effect of increasing the heart rate.
If you are not used to walking after meals, regular walking is also good for your health. The key point is that all sports and exercises should be done gradually, and as your physical fitness increases, try to increase the walking distance or speed. All in all, it is recommended to do both walking and exercise within your ability, and do not let the good things that promote physical health turn into counter-effects.
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