It’s that time of year again for oversized meals: turkey, pumpkin pie and side dishes galore. People can easily get carried away with large serving sizes, which can cause digestion issues and discomfort.
Dr. Chris Damman, a UW Medicine gastroenterologist, says the simple activity of walking within 30 minutes of a meal can alleviate the feeling of overfullness and benefit your health in other ways, too.
“Walking after a meal is super healthy in the sense that it will keep your blood sugar down. It also keeps it from spiking and activates your muscles, brings all that sugar into the muscles to use that sugar up instead of storing it in fat cells,” Damman said.
Even a five-minute walk has been shown to reduce the spike in blood glucose, thereby benefiting metabolic health, he added.
“We're learning that there's a two-way road between our exercise and the microbes in our guts and vice versa: how our microbes in our gut impact our muscles and exercise. It really goes both directions,” he said.
Download broadcast-ready soundbites and related multimedia with Damman.
