The Benefits of Movement After Eating

The first thing you’re supposed to do after eating is rest and digest, right? Maybe not. Getting up and moving after eating can lower your blood sugar, aid in digestion and even help with weight loss or management.

Movement and Blood Sugar

When you eat a meal, especially one high in carbohydrates, your blood sugar goes up.

This occurs because carbohydrates are converted to glucose, or sugar, in the body. This sugar enters your bloodstream, causing a blood sugar spike. Your body then releases a hormone called insulin to gather up the glucose from your blood and move it to your cells to make energy – causing your blood sugar to regulate.

However, sometimes, your body doesn’t have enough insulin to get rid of all the extra glucose. That’s when high blood sugar occurs. When this happens regularly, your risk for chronic conditions, such as heart and kidney disease, goes up. And you may find that you’re putting on extra pounds because your body stores excess glucose as fat in the body.

One way to help your body use up extra blood sugar is through movement.

“Exercising after eating gives your body an alternative of what to do with the sugar,” explains Matthew Fourman, MD, FACS, FASMBS, a bariatric surgeon with ProMedica Physicians.

Instead of your body storing any extra glucose as fat, the insulin released drives the glucose into the muscles you’re using. “Muscle is the single-biggest sponge of glucose in the body,” Dr. Fourman shares, making movement an exceptional way to dispose of extra glucose in a useful manner.

According to Dr. Fourman, movement is an effective medicine when it comes to blood sugar control. This is demonstrated by the fact that some people with Type 1 diabetes can keep their blood sugar under control and use very minimal insulin just by prioritizing walking and their diet.

Movement and Digestion

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to stay still to digest your food. Getting up and moving can actually help kickstart the process.

Dr. Fourman highlights that one of the first things your care team asks you to do after a procedure of any kind is get up and get moving. “Early walking is a vital part of early recovery in surgery,” Dr. Fourman shares. Walking helps stimulate the digestive system and get things moving through the intestines.

“You can extrapolate this to our everyday lives,” Dr. Fourman shares. Movement helps us digest food and better process nutrients.

Incorporating Movement into Your Day

Moving throughout your day is just as important as setting aside time for a dedicated workout.

Think of it this way: If you go to the gym for an hour every day, but are sedentary the rest of the day, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities for movement. Dr. Fourman recommends prioritizing non-exercise activity throughout your day to better assist with blood sugar control and overall weight loss.

Committing to moving after meals can help you make daily, consistent movement a habit. Plus, splitting movement up into several 10-15 minute intervals can make meeting daily exercise goals a lot more manageable.

However, Dr. Fourman explains that there is no substitute for dedicated time for exercise. He recommends you still dedicate one part of your day to focus solely on strength training and/or cardio activities.

What should you be eating to fuel your movement?

While carbs are used as fuel, they aren’t necessary in excess for most people. This means that unless you’re an elite athlete, you don’t need to carb-load before a workout. When carbs aren’t available, your body will use fat as fuel.  

Dr. Fourman recommends prioritizing protein instead: “Protein is king. Most Americans fall short of eating enough protein. I recommend adults consume one gram of protein per pound of their goal body weight every day.”

What type of movement should you do after eating?

“The best type of exercise is the kind that you are going to do,” Dr. Fourman shares.

With that being said, the more muscle groups you can engage, the more intense the exercise and the longer you can do it, the better. If you only have 10 minutes, aim for a brisk walk, or see how many squats, pushups or jumping jacks you can do with the time that you have.

Dr. Fourman shares a word of encouragement to those looking to make a change: “The biggest barrier is starting. Find something meaningful and fun and make it a habit.”