Most people think that having a “high-fat meal”for breakfast, lunch or dinner is bad a thing, but a recent Japanese study suggests otherwise. The research was done with a small group of people who ate a high-fat meal then waited 1 hour to do an after-meal exercise routine. The after-meal workouts consisted of light resistance training and walking. What makes this study so interesting is the fact that it showed a better reduction of triglyceride levels when exercising after eating. High-level triglycerides are usually associated with eating high fat foods and heart disease. This study showed that exercising after eating bad foods could reduce triglyceride levels more than if you worked out before eating.
A fitness workout after dinner can help reduce triglyceride levels. Image provided by: nokhoog_buchachon/Freedigitalphotos.net
After-Meal Exercise
Yahoo News‘ article by Rachael Rettner, MyHealthNewsDaily Staff Writer | LiveScience.com, talks about the study that was done by researchers at Kyoto Prefectural University.
The results show that walking and doing light resistance training one hour after eating a high-fat meal reduces the boost in triglycerides, fats in the blood, normally seen after consuming this type of food. What’s more, exercising after eating did a better job of reducing elevations in triglyceride levels than exercising before a meal.
High levels of triglycerides can increase the risk of heart disease.
Regular exercise reduces triglyceride levels, but few studies had looked at the effect of exercise on triglyceride levels shortly after eating, the researchers said.
The Japanese researchers measured triglyceride levels on 10 women and 10 men after eating. The research was done over a 3-day period. On two separate days people exercised either 1 hour before or 1 hour after eating, the third day there was no exercise.
When people exercised before dining, their triglyceride levels increased to 148 mg/dL within two hours after eating (a 25 percent reduction compared with triglyceride levels following no exercise). When people exercised after eating the meal, their triglyceride levels increased to 131 mg/dL (a 72 percent reduction compared with no exercise.)
This new research demonstrating how after-meal exercise routine can substantially reduce heart disease is an interesting finding. Hopefully those who typically consume high-fat meals look at this research and consider doing some form of exercise after eating. It may certainly increase their life expectancy and health. You can read more interesting articles at http://www.impactfitnessinc.com! Cheers!
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This is very interesting and I’ll have to give it a try and see if I can get my husband to do it as well, but I was wondering how does this affect fat loss if you start working out in the evening instead of the morning to rev up the metabolism for the day? I have weight to lose and I want the best way so please respond to this question if you would.
It doesn’t matter if you workout in the morning or the evening, what the article suggests is to workout 1 hour after eating because it reduces triglyceride levels (which is fat in the blood) at a higher rate than exercising before you eat.
My husband and I like to take a walk after dinner because it helps in the digestion of the meal and we sleep better that night. It is great to know that the reasons we were doing it is just the tip of the iceberg and that there are many other more beneficial reasons to do it. Thank you for posting this it was very educational please continue to post things like this.
Dan, so what you are telling Kent is that it doesn’t matter a.m. or p.m. because it will burn fat and you will see weight loss either way? I understand the benefit digestively and now I understand what it can do for your heart but there is a lot of concern when it comes to weight loss as well. A lot of people think you burn more fat in the morning.
I had never heard about this before and I actually look forward to starting a work out regime that will take place after dinner now, Thank you for the idea and I will certainly comment when I get about 1 week under my belt to let you know how it is going. Great job with the information you provided as well I look forward to your next post.