ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Today is Christmas and the first night of Hanukkah, and like with many holidays, that probably means a big meal is in your immediate future or recent past. When you've finished feasting, instead of rolling from the table to the TV, consider taking a walk. As NPR's Maria Godoy reports, even a quick stroll can yield big benefits.
MARIA GODOY, BYLINE: People have been taking walks after meals for centuries.
LORETTA DIPIETRO: Italians have been doing it, and Europeans have been doing it forever. You go for a walk after a meal.
GODOY: That's Loretta DiPietro. She's an exercise researcher at George Washington University. This old idea is catching on again, thanks to TikTok. People are posting videos promoting post-meal walks. Some call them fart walks because they can relieve gas. Experts say this is one health hack social media gets right.
DIPIETRO: Walking at any time of day is beneficial. You get more bang for the buck if you walk after meals.
GODOY: For starters, walking will jumpstart digestion. Dr. Chris Damman is a gastroenterologist and professor at the University of Washington.
CHRIS DAMMAN: It actually has pretty important benefits for your wellbeing in your belly, so to speak (laughter). Getting things moving, and may be also beneficial for clearing the air, if you know what I mean.
GODOY: Yeah, we know. Walking also helps regulate blood sugar levels after eating. As food is digested, it gets converted into glucose, and that sugar will then flood the bloodstream. But a post-meal walk can blunt that spike.
DAMMAN: When we move our muscles, they become sponges for the blood glucose that our gut is absorbing into the bloodstream. And so it basically just pulls all that glucose out of the blood and into the muscles.
GODOY: Where it gets used right away to fuel our walk, so the body doesn't need to produce as much insulin to clear that glucose, which means less stress on your pancreas. And that's important because...
DAMMAN: You know, over time, high loads on the pancreas can tax it and even lead to prediabetes or diabetes.
GODOY: You don't have to walk long to see these benefits, DiPietro coauthored one study that found taking a 15-minute walk at a moderate pace after a meal improved blood sugar control even hours later. Other research has found as little as 2 to 5 minutes of walking can help. And if the weather isn't conducive to an outdoor stroll or you're just too busy binging Netflix, DiPietro says don't let that deter you.
DIPIETRO: When you're watching television, stand up during commercials and march in place. Wave your arms and legs, walk upstairs. Those muscle contractions will help store the glucose.
GODOY: Now, DiPietro says walking after any meal is beneficial, but if you had to pick one, dinner would be your best bet. That's because for many people, the evening meal tends to be the biggest of the day.
DIPIETRO: And so you've got a lot of calories going in, and all that sugar and fat is circulating in your blood, and what we then do is flop in front of the television or we go to bed.
GODOY: Which is a bad idea because our bodies also produce less insulin at night, especially as we age. Dr. Luis Buenaver is a behavioral sleep specialist at Johns Hopkins University. He says blood sugar spikes and crashes can lead to a bad night's sleep.
LUIS BUENAVER: But walking can help improve insulin sensitivity, and so that not only benefits your metabolism, but it can also promote more stable energy levels kind of throughout the night.
GODOY: So as you push away from the holiday table, fight the urge to take a nap or turn on the TV, and first go for a walk. Your body will thank you. Maria Godoy, NPR 暗黑爆料.
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