Laziness usually kicks in after having a meal.

Be it dinner, lunch or breakfast, it can be tempting to take a nap, sit and relax or watch a movie or just watch screen, or if you’re a reader, grab your novel. Health experts however, warn against sitting or lying down after consuming food, but to instead keep fit and stay healthy.

Walking after meals comes with immense benefits, for instance, research has found that walking helps speed up the time it takes for food to move from the stomach into the small intestines. This could help improve satisfaction after eating.

According to Peter Kaberuka, a physiotherapist at Ineza Physical clinic, Nyarutarama, walking or exercising is impactful as it improves digestion.

He adds that body movement can support your digestion by promoting stimulation of the stomach and intestines, causing food to move through more rapidly.

The physiotherapist says, walking after meals can have a calming effect on the body which can improve your mood, focus, and concentration.

Kaberuka also notes that walking after meals assists in reducing stress levels but also keeps you fit because it helps in motivating your metabolism, which assists in burning calories. 

However, he says that the working environment sometimes keeps a number of Rwandans in one place, and some have even adopted the culture of the West to eat from their offices.

He says that if someone is accessing all the services necessary in one place, chances are, they are not pushed to move-a thing and that keeps them in one place which risks their health.

He carries on that sitting after meals, keeps the body inactive, hence exposing one to obesity, heart diseases, including coronary artery disease and heart attack, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and others.

Kaberuka stresses that a walk after eating can help lower blood sugar levels, high blood sugar levels can surge your risk for type 2 diabetes. ‘For the people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, constantly high blood sugars can rise your risk for additional progression of the disease and complications.’ 

According to research one small study co-authored by DiPietro, found that when older adults at risk for type-2 diabetes walked on a treadmill for 15 minutes after a meal, they had smaller blood sugar spikes in the hours afterward. The researchers found that these short post-meal walks were even more effective at lowering blood sugar after dinner than a single 45-minute walk taken at mid-morning or late in the afternoon.

Studies have also shown that moderate exercise after a meal, and particularly walking after dinner, can suggestively reduce post-meal blood sugar levels. 

As such, Kaberuka advises taking a walk especially after dinner as this can give you good sleep as it is believed to clear your head, which in turn blows insomnia.  

"Walking burns calories, which may help you lose weight and keep it off. Walking just one mile burns about 100 calories. Walking can help prevent some of the muscle loss that occurs when you lose weight.

"This helps minimize the drop in metabolic rate that occurs when you lose weight, making the pounds easier to keep off and regularly taking part in a moderate-intensity aerobic exercise like walking has been shown to help people lose belly fat,” states Healthline.

If you are wondering when to start walking, scientists say that as far as timing goes, try to move your body within an hour of eating, and the sooner the better. Glucose tends to top 72 minutes after food intake, therefore, you would want to get moving well before then. Even if you take a quick 10-minute walk, it will be effective.