I Like to Move It

A Thanksgiving Day walk in 2022. I hope to snap another picture like this today.

Today’s hack is my favorite, because it’s very likely you’re already doing it. We love an easy A! Today, we are talking about movement. 

Thanksgiving Day is famous for movement. Don’t you love seeing big families, with multiple generations, crowded onto the sidewalk for a lap around the block? Intuitively, you know that moving your body today is the “healthy” thing to do, and this might be a part of your family’s tradition. It makes you feel better for a variety of reasons, including digestion, but guess what else? It can also impact your blood sugar.

Remember our discussion about blood sugar on Tuesday? Here’s a quick overview: when you eat a big meal containing lots of carbohydrates and sugar (which is what I’ll be doing at 4pm), your body takes in a bunch of glucose (i.e. energy). This glucose will eventually circulate in your bloodstream, and because your body craves balance, you can’t have too much circulating at any given time. We talked about managing spikes in blood sugar with the order of eating your food, but we haven’t yet covered your body’s inherent blood sugar manager: insulin.  

Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas, and one of its primary functions is to move glucose from your bloodstream into your cells. Think of insulin as the key that unlocks the cell’s door, so that glucose can enter. When this relationship works well, that door can open and close with no issues. However, when you eat an especially carb-heavy meal, the large amount of glucose may be more than your insulin production can handle. The key stops working. 

Luckily, your body has another key that works in a pinch: exercise. 

You might be saying to yourself, “Wait, exercise isn’t a hormone. How can exercise move glucose into my cells?” Well, when you exercise, your muscles contract, and this contraction requires glucose. Because your body is a genius, it’s evolved to get glucose straight into those muscle cells – without the need for insulin to unlock the door. This is huge! That’s how important blood sugar regulation is to your health; your body has a backup key.

Research has shown that a brief walk within 30 minutes of a meal will have a significant impact on lowering your blood sugar levels. We’re talking 10 minutes! Your muscle contractions will immediately uptake all that yummy glucose you just ate, and it won’t even have time to raise your blood sugar. This means a smaller spike, less intense energy dip later on, less waking in the middle of the night, and less stored fat. Bonus? Fresh air and natural light are great regulators for your nervous system and circadian rhythm. Win, win, win. If a walk isn’t possible, do 20 squats or calf raises. Contracting these large muscle groups will have a similar effect to the walk.

Managing your blood sugar is critical — there will be major domino effects when it’s out of whack — so I really encourage you to try this today. We will probably do our “big” family walk early on, but I’m going to get my butt outside for a quick lap after dinner, too. Keep this in your back pocket for all of your upcoming holiday parties; a bathroom stall is definitely big enough for squats!

xoxo

Brianna