What are the benefits of exercising after meals?

We eat every day, because only by eating can we have a healthy body, but many people go to bed directly after eating without doing physical exercise. This is not good, and it will also harm our physical health to a certain extent. So what are the benefits of exercising after meals? First of all, it helps people digestion. Besides this, what other benefits does it have?

Experts point out that the spleen is the foundation of acquired constitution, and whether human is healthy and long-lived is directly related to the spleen and stomach. There are many ways to nourish the spleen, such as by supplementing and exercising. Taking a slow walk after a meal can help the spleen and stomach's digestive function. This is the acquired way of nourishing the spleen by "using exercise to help the spleen". According to Chinese medicine theory, the spleen controls the limbs and muscles, and exercising the limbs is to exercise the spleen.

Walking a hundred steps half an hour after a meal will help digestion

After eating, lying down in bed to rest and sleep immediately is not good for digestion. There is a saying in ancient times: “Don’t lie down after a full meal”. Lying down after a meal will cause food stagnation, while walking quickly after a meal will cause blood to flow to the limbs, affecting the digestion and absorption function. Moving slowly after eating is beneficial to gastrointestinal motility and promotes digestion. This is the reason why “walking a few hundred steps after eating is of great benefit to the body”.

However, experts also pointed out that "after a meal" should be understood as 20-30 minutes after a meal, rather than taking a slow walk immediately after a meal. At the same time, it is important to note that “don’t walk in a hurry after eating.” Taking a hundred steps after a meal does not advocate fast walking after a meal, but rather walking slowly. Those who are not suitable for walking slowly can also move their hands and feet. In addition, some people should not walk a hundred steps after a meal, such as patients with liver disease, people with coronary heart disease, etc.

Walking around right after a meal can overdraw your energy and hinder digestion

The energy consumed by hurried walking after a meal (energy food) is actually an overdraft of the physical strength before the meal. The blood in the human body will be more distributed in the trunk, limbs and other active parts, which will reduce the blood supply to the gastrointestinal tract and the secretion of digestive enzymes. If you then immediately engage in activities that require high sensitivity and accuracy, such as driving, it can easily lead to adverse consequences.

What kind of person is not suitable for walking a hundred steps after a meal?

Some people are suitable for "not being able to walk" after a meal. This refers to people with poor physical constitution, especially those suffering from diseases such as gastroptosis. These people should not take a walk after a meal, and even general walking should be reduced. They can choose to lie down for 10 minutes after a meal. Because the stomach is full of food after a meal, performing upright activities at this time will increase the vibration of the stomach, increase the burden on the stomach, and cause or aggravate gastroptosis. Patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases should avoid exercising after meals. Because gastrointestinal activity increases after meals, blood flow to the gastrointestinal tract increases, and blood flow to the brain decreases accordingly.

What are the benefits of exercising half an hour after a meal? How long after a meal can you exercise? The answer depends on the intensity of the exercise and how full you are. Generally speaking, high-intensity exercise can be performed two hours after a meal; moderate exercise should be performed one hour after a meal; and light exercise is best performed half an hour after a meal.

It is not suitable to exercise immediately after a meal:

1. Stimulate the stomach and intestines: Exercising after a full meal will cause mechanical stimulation to the stomach and intestines, causing the dissolved substances in the stomach and intestines to vibrate left and right and up and down, which may cause symptoms such as vomiting and stomach cramps.

2. Affects the effect of weight loss exercise: After the human body eats, the parasympathetic nerves in the body are easily inhibited. If the body wants to exercise at this time, the effect of the exercise will be reduced.

3. Blood flow distribution disorder: After eating, the digestive organs need a lot of blood for digestion and absorption. When the muscles of the whole body are exercising, a lot of blood is also required. This will deprive the digestive organs of blood, leading to digestion and absorption disorders. This disorder not only affects the exercise effect but also harms the body.

In addition, in terms of the effect on weight loss, the increase in insulin secretion after meals can inhibit the decomposition of fat, and the effect of weight loss exercises during this period will also be affected.

There are many benefits of exercising after meals, so whether it is after lunch or dinner, whether we have time or not, we should do some appropriate exercise. Only in this way can we digest the food in the stomach and avoid indigestion. The most important point is that it helps us lose weight.