People who live along the Mediterranean are known for meals that encourage good health, but they have long followed up their life-extending meals with a walk. Recent studies indicate walking could help reduce blood sugar after the meal. Walking as little as two to five minutes may be enough to start this reduction. Standing can help, but isn’t nearly as effective.
The research is based on seven studies that looked at the effect of standing and walking over the course of the day, finding that moving roughly every 20 to 30 minutes can be healthy for the human body. On average, there was 28 minutes of activity over the course of the observations for the studies, with movement lasting for between 2 and 5 minutes. Standing for that amount of time was better than remaining seated or quickly sitting elsewhere, resulting in lower blood sugar levels, but did not lower insulin in the participants’ bloodstream like walking did. The short period of just walking keeps the blood sugar levels more even, which is better for the cardiovascular system.
People who were active for 150 minutes every week were at lower risk for a wide range of ailments. This averages to 21.43 minutes every day. When this isn’t possible, short walks after eating can help keep blood sugar levels more even.
You can read the full article at 2 Minutes of Walking after Eating Can Help Blood Sugar, Study Says.
* O’Connell and Associates provides this article for informational purposes only.