As soon as I was done, I questioned my choices. I imagined my arteries becoming clogged with all of the sugar and fat now floating around in my bloodstream.
Instead of regretting it and making a promise to myself never to do it again, I went online to see if there's anything I could do to minimize the impact. Moments later, I learned the solution that could help balance out my high-fat meal.
I learned there was something I could do to prevent some of the damage from what had just taken place. After eating a high-fat, high carb meal, real changes happen in our body. The composition of our blood changes as it becomes laden with fat.
Did you know that after a heavy meal, your arteries look like that of someone who has heart disease? Yep, the thick sluggish fat impairs the arteries' ability to function properly. This outcome is relatively temporary lasting for around 6 hours but if you're always eating high-fat meals, you're keeping your arteries in a constant state of impairment. That's not a good thing.
But researchers have found a way to reduce the impact to our arteries. All we have to do is go for a post-meal walk.
They took a look at the arterial impact of eating an extremely high-calorie meal. Healthy 25 year-old participants enjoyed a rich breakfast consisting of eggs, sausage, and hash browns (945 calories). Two hours later, they were asked to walk on a treadmill for 45 minutes. After examination, they found that arterial function was vastly improved. In fact, it was even better than before the participants ate.
The same benefits were seen in managing blood sugar as well. We all know that after eating sweets or meals consisting of highly refined grains, our blood sugar spikes. Eating pasta, bread, and rice is pretty much equivalent to eating sweets as far as the body is concerned. That spike in blood sugar is potential energy for the body. Unfortunately, most of us are fairly sedentary after a meal/snack so all that extra energy is quickly stored as fat.
The Mayo Clinic conducted a study which assessed the blood sugar levels of healthy individuals after a meal. Four hours after eating our blood sugar rises to over 100% higher than normal. But those who walked at a comfortable pace post meal didn't experience that same spike.
Basically, walking after a meal can help lower blood sugar and reduce the amount of fat in the bloodstream. Instead of flooding the blood, that extra sugar is diverted to the muscles where it can be used as energy. This news made me so very happy. I could actually do something proactive to help protect my body against the negative consequences of my eating choices.
I've been putting this theory into practice by taking walks after meals and I've noticed that I haven't been experiencing feeling sugar highs and crashes.
It's also good to know that benefits are still accessible when I do mild physical activity. We don't have to rush to the gym after a meal we just have to get active so the body can process the excess sugar & fat. This doesn't mean that we can gorge on sweets and high-fat food all of the time. If you still eat more calories than you burn, you'll still gain weight. I'm not advocating that you eat horribly. We are fully responsible for eating healthy, nutrient rich foods that feed our cells.
But it's nice to know there's something we can do to reduce the possible internal effects to our bodies from the foods we eat.
from BELLEMOCHA.com http://ift.tt/2lx8CNd
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