Taking short walks after meals helps reduce risk of diabetes and heart problems, study finds

Standing instead of sitting after a meal also has benefits

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Going for a walk after a meal can help lower the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and heart problems, researchers have suggested.

A new study has found that walking for just a couple of minutes after eating is enough to lower blood sugar and insulin levels.

Researchers from the University of Limerick analysed the results of seven studies that compared the effect of sitting or standing and walking after eating.

The studies revealed that while standing after a meal is better than sitting, taking a short walk offered the biggest health benefits overall.

People who took regular light-intensity walks after a meal had lower blood sugar and insulin levels than people who remained seated.

Standing up for short periods of time after a meal showed an improvement on blood sugar levels, but not on insulin, according to the study published in the Sports Medicine journal.

Participants in five of the studies did not have pre-diabetes or Type 2 diabetes, while the other two studies had a mix of people with or without it.

All the studies showed that walking for a few minutes after a meal caused participants’ blood sugar levels to rise and fall more gradually instead fluctuating quickly.

Aidan Buffey, lead author of the study, told The Times that the findings were in line with advice from the World Health Organisation and other health bodies to physically move more.

He added that blood sugar levels that repeatedly spike after eating and insulin produced to control them may lead to the development of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems.

“With standing and walking, there are contractions of your muscles,” he said, explaining that these encourage the muscles to use glucose and lowers levels in the bloodstream.

“If you can do physical activity before the glucose peak, typically 60 to 90 minutes [after eating], that is when you’re going to have the benefit of not having the glucose spike.”