Walking After Eating and Blood Sugar

Walking After Eating and Blood Sugar.. Approximately 79 million Americans are at risk for type 2 diabetes, in which the body does not produce enough insulin or does not effectively use. Being overweight or obese increases this risk. New research, although only 10 people were tested, suggests that short walks can reduce the risk if done at the right time.

Blood sugar goes up after every meal. Insulin is the hormone produced by the pancreas and its major role is to lower the blood sugar. Things don’t go as they should in diabetes sufferers, this process malfunctions and blood sugar level stays high.

The after-dinner period is a particularly vulnerable time for older people at risk for diabetes. Insulin production decreases, and they can go to bed with extremely high levels of glucose in the blood, which increases their chances of diabetes.

Researchers from George Washington University School of Public Health were interested in finding out the effects of the practice of short and regular exercise among older people at risk for diabetes.

For the study, researchers used 10 elderly people who are 70 years old on average. At the beginning, men and women had significantly lower fasting blood glucose between 105 and 125 milligrams per deciliter. Level of fasting blood glucose of 70 to 100 is considered normal, according to the U.S. National Institute of Health. Men and women stayed at the research center and were closely supervised. Their sugar levels in the blood were monitored every 48 hours.

Participants practiced either a fifteen-minute walk after each meal, 45 minutes at 10:30 or 45 minutes at 16.30. In total, participants performed three exercise protocols in random order and four weeks apart.

The researchers concluded that three short walks after eating worked significantly better to control sugar levels in the blood instead of a 45-minute walk in the morning or evening.

Walking half an hour after eating gives time for the first digestion. In this half-hour glucose begins to flood the blood. You use the working muscles to help clear the glucose in the blood. Exercise helps a sluggish pancreas do its job, to secrete insulin to clear up glucose.

If you ‘re exercising right after you eat, this will cause the blood sugar to decrease because more glucose to the muscles would help the muscles with their metabolism. The short walks could also adapt to the schedules better.

This is a great habit to have which allows the elderly to practice this little exercise along with some daily activities. It could be accompanied with things like walking the dog or running errands.

You also have to do it every day to get the full advantage. This is certainly not a prescription for fitness, but a simple way to reduce the risk of diabetes.