Study Says A Two-Minute Walk After Meals Could Manage Blood Sugar Levels

If you are dealing with blood-sugar issues you are far from alone in that. It’s hitting a lot of people these days with many high sugar diets causing diabetes more Canadians than could have been predicted in years past. In 2015, the estimated prevalence of diabetes was 3.4 million or 9.3% of the population, and was predicted to rise to 5 million or 12.1% of the population by 2025, representing a 44% increase from 2015 to 2025. That estimate proved to be an underestimation.

Diabetes Canada released new 2022 figures that show the continued rising trend of diabetes rates in Canada with no signs of leveling or decreasing. Their numbers show that 5.7 million Canadians, 14% of the population, are dealing with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. If you account for Canadians living with pre-diabetes it becomes 11.7 million, or 30% of the population. Staggeringly higher than they anticipated only 7 years ago.

Fortunately there is new research that offers a simple way to help ourselves avoid blood sugar spikes after meals. Taking a two-minute walk after lunch, rather than continuing to sit at your desk, is all you need to better manage blood sugar levels, according to new research.

Researchers at Ireland’s University of Limerick and England’s Manchester Metropolitan University teamed up for a meta-analysis of seven studies that compared the effects of prolonged sitting on “cardiometabolic health markers,” such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and insulin levels, with the effects of sitting interrupted by short periods of standing and walking.

All studies showed that just a few minutes of light-intensity walking after a meal significantly improved blood sugar levels, per the New York Times.

Though standing after a meal did help lower blood sugar levels compared to sitting, particularly for overweight or obese participants, light-intensity walking, even for as little as two minutes, “was a superior intervention,” using up the energy from food, University of Limerick graduate student Aidan Buffey, author of the study published in Sports Medicine, tells the Times.

The research showed blood sugar levels rose and fell more gradually with a two-minute walk every 20 minutes and a five-minute walk every 30 minutes. Though people are not going to “run around the office,” they should be able to find two or three minutes just to stroll, says Buffey. As blood sugar levels usually peak 60 to 90 minutes after a meal, a walk at this time is “especially useful in minimizing blood sugar spikes,” per the Times.

This is important information not only for those with pre-diabetes or Type 2 diabetes—who need to avoid spikes and crashes in blood sugar levels—but also for others who hope to avoid these conditions. According to the Times, sharp fluctuations in blood sugar may contribute to developing Type 2 diabetes. Additionally, as the Healthy notes, high blood sugar causes the blood to thicken and “forces your heart to work harder to pump blood throughout your body.”

No running needed, just a light stroll for two or three minutes. Something anyone should be capable of if they can still walk on their own or have the required assistance.

Source: https://bit.ly/3vVgWNP