WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO WALK AFTER EATING

While experts have mixed opinions on how soon you should walk after a meal, they generally agree that it's best to start as soon as possible—ideally within 30 minutes after eating.

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"As long as you feel comfortable walking right after finishing your meal, it's a good time to start," says Sheri Colberg, professor emerita of exercise science at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Research has shown significant improvements in blood sugar levels and other so-called cardiometabolic risk factors when people walk instead of standing still or sitting after eating.

How long should you walk after eating?

There are no strict rules on how long you should walk. You can benefit even from a short, light walk. Health improvements have been noted even when walking at a slow pace for just two to five minutes.

“There isn’t a set distance or number of steps you need to take to experience the benefits of walking after a meal,” says Heather Viola, assistant professor of internal medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

“The ideal length of a walk for one person might differ for another. If you’re just starting a new walking routine, aim for 10 minutes. As you begin to feel better after introducing this habit, gradually increase the duration of your walks. What’s more important is establishing a daily routine.”

Walking after eating helps with blood sugar levels

Research has shown that walking after a meal helps regulate blood sugar levels. A small experiment conducted over a decade ago compared the effects of walking before and after meals on blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes—and found that walking after eating was clearly better. More recently, a meta-analysis of eight studies examining the benefits of walking before and after meals also showed a clear advantage. Both healthy participants and individuals with type 2 diabetes symptoms had better blood sugar control when walking after eating, with little or no impact on blood sugar from walking before meals. Why? Walking requires your muscles to work harder than when resting, and muscles burn glucose, or sugars, as fuel for this effort.

Walking after eating can aid weight loss

Walking might not be the first workout that comes to mind when your goal is weight loss. It’s true that spending time on more intense aerobic activities can burn more calories than a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood. However, the weight loss benefits of walking still exist—even if you break it up into shorter, more frequent walks. Research comparing the benefits of one 50-minute daily walk to two 25-minute walks each day found that people lost more weight with two short walks than with one long walk. Part of the benefit of multiple daily walks is that this approach often replaces the time people typically spend sitting after meals with post-meal walks.