Doing this one thing after meals can help you lose weight and transform your health, walking expert says
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This 15-minute habit will have an immediate effect and benefit your health for decades to come. The key to gaining and maintaining fitness is finding healthy habits that stick. For most people, this time-savvy 15-minute trick will fit the bill nicely, and it’s not overly strenuous either.
“We know that even a short amount of exercise has an immediate effect,” says Dr Aguiar. “Straight away, you get lower blood pressure and lower blood glucose.”. The study focussed on “older persons at risk for glucose intolerance”, and found that those who walked immediately after meals had the lowest blood glucose response – shallower peaks and troughs – across the whole day.
This is because, during exercise, glucose is pulled into the cells of the working muscles to be used as energy. As a result, your blood glucose lowers, which can help you maintain more consistent energy levels and lessen the load on your pancreas as it aims to regulate blood sugar.
“The idea is that you eat a meal, you do 15 minutes of postprandial exercise, and that’s going to reduce your blood glucose spike and maintain your blood glucose in a better range for up to 24 or 48 hours,” Dr Aguiar explains. “It’s exercise snacking. You’re breaking down a larger volume of exercise, so you don’t have to run for an hour and sweat buckets. Just 15 minutes of walking after each main meal is going to be beneficial for your health on its own.”.