A Cleveland Clinic Doctor Just Revealed a Major Effect of Walking After a Meal—and It’s Not Blood Sugar

Those of us who have dogs that take evening walks know how much better it makes us feel, too. Most of the medical conversation surrounding post-prandial (after-meal) walking focuses on the beneficial impact on blood sugar levels. People with type 2 diabetes who walk daily might tell you this really can make a difference to the subsequent glucose number.

But there are even more reasons to get out on a stroll, says a Cleveland Clinic gastroenterologist. Jessica Philpott, MD, PhD is a double board-certified physician in internal medicine and gastroenterology. Beyond the blood sugar effect, Dr. Philpott says: “From my standpoint, walking after a meal actually can improve your gastric emptying.”

Gastric emptying is just what it sounds like, explains the Cleveland Clinic: it’s the rate at which your stomach empties food you’ve eaten into the small intestine, where the body then absorbs the first phase of fat and nutrients before traveling to the large intestine, which takes in water and more nutrients.

“Studies have shown that walking immediately after a meal can shorten rapidly the amount of time that food sits in the stomach,” Dr. Philpott says. “That can really improve symptoms of feeling excessively full, reflux, abdominal pain, and others.”

So, if you used to hear that you should sit still after eating to avoid getting an abdominal cramp, this brings more modern scientific understanding to that recommendation. Cleveland Clinic experts suggest stepping out to walk 15 to 30 minutes after finishing a meal for an ideal window to promote healthy digestion.

Of course, it might not be practical to walk after every meal—Dr. Philpott says, “Studies have shown that even just making a change in position can impact stomach emptying. So, a person that can’t walk around the block, if they at least get up to stand from sitting, they walk around their house, that may still impact positively their stomach emptying.”

Getting your steps is, in fact, a healthy approach to managing blood sugar, too. “There’s so many health benefits from walking after a meal,” Dr. Philpott says.

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