Should you walk after eating?

Walk after eating

Exercise after eating

Eating a large meal might make you want to do as little as possible. If the meal was big enough, you might even want nothing more than to take a good nap. Most people, in fact, experience an afternoon slump soon after their lunch break.

Take a few minutes to do light exercise like walking after your big meal to help you to avoid the lack of energy or fatigue that usually follows indulgence. Doing so will even improve your health in the long run. Here's how:

Should you walk after eating?

Should you walk after eating?

1. A short walk will improve blood flow and increase oxygen levels

Blood flow is important - and circulation is much needed after a large meal

Blood flow is always critically important. It helps to deliver nutrients like oxygen and energy to the rest of the body. Blood flow will clear out toxins that tend to accumulate. Your digestive system requires sufficient blood flow throughout the day.

The digestive tract's need for blood flow, however, increases dramatically when it needs to digest food. Larger meals require more blood flow.

People who suffer from low blood pressure may experience heightened symptoms after eating because more blood is shuttled to the gut to aid digestion. This reduces the amount of oxygen that is circulated throughout the rest of the body.

If you struggle with drops in blood pressure, here are some tips to help you find the underlying cause.

A walk to improve circulation

A short walk will help to improve circulation and increase blood oxygen levels. Depending on your job, you may feel the biggest benefit when it comes to your mental performance. Our brains are surprisingly fickle when it comes to fluctuating oxygen levels. The slightest drop in blood circulation or oxygen uptake can result in reduced cognitive function and mental fatigue.

Light physical movement will increase oxygen levels and help to curb the drop in energy that usually comes after a large meal.

2. Light movement after eating will help to stabilize blood sugar

Eating spikes blood sugar. Exercise combats high blood sugar.

When food enters into the gut, sugar is absorbed into the blood stream. This is what leads to a spike in blood sugar levels after eating food. Glucose (sugar in the blood) is the primary source of energy for most of your cells. Too much sugar in the blood, though, can have disastrous consequences.

The average soda, for example, has 137.5 times more sugar than what is normally found in your blood.

Sugar is gyroscopic. That means that it absorbs water. Blood that is too high in sugar will pull water out of the cells in an effort to dilute it back to normal levels. There are approximately 4 grams of sugar in the 5 liters of blood circulating through your body (or 0.14 ounces for 1.3 gallons of blood).

That's less than a teaspoon of sugar! Blood sugar levels spike when the sugar from food is pulled into the bloodstream. In order to make sure that the increased blood sugar does not have any negative effects on the rest of the body, insulin is released to bring it back down.

Insulin does this very quickly. Because of insulin, blood sugar may drop to lower than what it was before eating. This is how eating food - particularly food that is high in sugar - cause spikes and drops in blood sugar.

Try these healthy alternatives to favorite junk foods and avoid consuming so much sugar.

Exercise counteracts blood sugar spikes and drops

A light form of exercise right after eating your meal will help you to use up some of the sugar that is pulled into your blood. This will stabilize blood sugar and decrease the severity of the sugar spike after a large meal.

Since sugar levels don't get too high as a result of the exercise, less insulin is released. You won't experience such a great drop in blood sugar. This will help to mitigate the lack of energy that you feel after eating.

3. Aided digestion

Your stomach is empty most of the time. It has elastic qualities that help it to hold onto food and prepare it or digestion. The stomach's primary role is to mix food with acids and turn it into a pulp-like mixture so that it can be absorbed by the gut.

Your stomach requires movement to turn the food and acid into an even mixture. This is why some people experience a gurgling or roaring sound after eating.

Light movement can help the stomach to mix the food more efficiently and therefore decrease the time and effort that it takes before moving it along to the next phase of digestion. That is why walking after a meal helps with digestion and reduces the work load on your tummy.

Exercise after eating

Walk after eating

Keep after-meal walks light and short

A casual walk for 10-20 minutes is good enough. You don't want to exercise at too great of an intensity because this may divert blood away from the digestive process when it needs it the most.

High intensity exercise can hamper optimal digestion

A light walk increases blood flow and oxygen levels, while heavier exercise will increase the need for blood and oxygen elsewhere. Exercise that strains the body too much, when done on a full stomach, can lead to digestive issues like stomach aches, diarrhea, heart burn and ulcers.

You want your body to focus on digesting the meal as soon as possible so that it can go back to functioning normally. It does this best with light exercise. No exercise at all, or exercise that is too straining, will have the opposite effect.

Remember that your body spends most of its time without food in your belly, so it regards that state as more normal. It costs energy to digest food. The more energy your body has to digest food and return to normal, the better.

You will feel good after the first few minutes

A light walk might be the last thing on your mind after a heavy meal, but you will start to feel the digestion-boosting effects within a few short minutes. Take a walk after eating regularly to help your body to stabilize its blood sugar levels in the long run.

Remember to always consult your medical practitioner before making any significant lifestyle changes. Do you feel better after walking off a large meal? Did you find the information here that you were looking for? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. Stay Strong!

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