Take a short walk after your meal for your blood sugar

It could be a casual stroll or a power walk, but just two to five minutes of movement after your meal can help stabilise your blood sugar and insulin levels. — Filepic

Recently, there have been some reports that walking just two minutes after eating can reduce the post-meal blood sugar spike. My husband is pre-­diabetic and very worried. So we would like to do this short exercise each time we have a meal. But are the reports true?

Yes, it is true.

There is a 2022 meta-analysis study in the Sports Medicine ­journal that found that walking just two to five minutes after a meal can lower your blood sugar.

Previously, many people believed that you had to walk longer than that.

But now, if you walk for just two to five minutes after every meal, it can do the trick.

What do you mean by a “meta-analysis study”?

A meta-analysis is a study that examines a group of other studies and tries to compile the results of all those studies.

This is as the more data researchers have, the more accurate the results are likely to be.

Doing a meta-­analysis is one way of harnessing the data of many similar studies to get more accurate results without having to do a new study on the same ­subject.

This particular meta-­analysis ­analysed seven different other studies, which compared the impact of sitting, standing and walking on our body’s insulin and blood sugar levels.

In the various studies, participants were asked to either stand or walk for two to five minutes every 20 to 30 minutes throughout the course of a day.

Then their blood sugar and insulin levels were measured.

Apparently, most of the people participating in the studies usually only stood or walked lightly for about 28 minutes a day!

I suspect many people in Malaysia do that too. What were the results of the studies?

No surprises here: Standing was better than sitting at lowering blood sugar levels immediately after a meal, but it did not lower the insulin levels in your blood.

Standing reduced your blood sugar by almost 10%, compared to prolonged sitting.

But if you take a short walk after eating a meal, your blood sugar and insulin will be more stable than either standing or ­sitting immediately after a meal.

It was found that if you walk intermittently throughout the day, your blood sugar can reduce by an average of 17%, compared to if you are sitting all the time.

The idea is that you don’t want your blood sugar to spike too high or fall too quickly, as this can raise the risk for diabetes and heart disease.

Does my blood sugar spike up immediately after I eat something?

The greatest blood sugar spike will come around 60 to 90 minutes after eating.

That is why it is best to take the walk soon or right after finishing your meal so that the spike won’t be too high.

Why does walking do this?

It is not just walking; it is simply getting up and moving around.

Walking seems to be the easiest thing to do after a meal because you have to move to clear the table and wash dishes.

Or if you are eating out, you have to walk to your transport, or you may wish to do a little shopping after your meal.

The reason is that your muscles need glucose to function.

So, any sort of movement will help clear the glucose from your bloodstream.

Most guidelines will tell you that if you are physically active in a moderately vigorous way for 150 minutes a week, you can cut your risk of death by one-third.

Other than walking or exercise, what other ways are there to lower my blood sugar or not let it spike? Let’s just say if I am in a wheelchair or have difficulty walking.

Then your eating should be carefully controlled.

You should eat a healthy diet and maintain a healthy weight within the body mass index (BMI) parameters.

There are also other exercises you can do even if you are wheelchair-bound.

Other tips you can follow are:

• Eat at regular times
• Don’t skip meals – your blood sugar spikes will become unpredictable otherwise.
• Don’t eat too much – eat only until you are about two-thirds full.

   

  This is as it takes time for the stomach to signal to the brain that it is already full, so your stomach could be full, but your brain still thinks that it isn’t!

• Don’t eat foods that are high in calories – these are often refined carbohydrates or foods that are high in saturated fat, sugar and salt.
• Don’t drink drinks that have sugar – these include soft drinks or juices; stick to plain water.
• Don’t drink more than two alcoholic drinks a day if you are a man, or one if you are a woman – they are high in calories, but low in nutritional value.
• Instead of sweets for desserts or snacks, choose a fruit – the type of sugar in fruits is ­fructose, which is slower in releasing its sugars.
• Eat slowly – if you prolong your eating, your brain will tell you it is satisfied after about 20 minutes without you consuming more than you need.

These are all natural methods.

If you are diabetic or pre-­diabetic, you need the advice of a medical doctor because you may need drugs or insulin to control your blood sugar.

Then should I even snack between meals? Or do I have to go for a walk after each snack?

It is OK to snack, especially if you are a very active person.

Snacking can provide a boost of energy when you are hungry between meals.

The idea is not to snack too much or too often.

A good way is to aim for a healthy snack like fruit, and to ensure that it does not exceed 250 calories per snack.

Once again, after your snack, you can just take a short walk or move about for a short while.

Dr YLM graduated as a medical doctor, and has been writing for many years on various subjects such as medicine, health, computers and entertainment. For further information, email [e-mail]. The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only, and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.