A 10-minute walk initiated immediately after glucose ingestion reduces peak blood glucose levels in healthy young adults compared to remaining seated, whereas a 30-minute walk initiated 30 minutes after glucose ingestion does not reduce peak blood glucose levels, indicating that the timing of physical activity relative to glucose absorption determines the magnitude of glucose excursion attenuation.

When you walk right after eating sugar, your leg muscles contract and pull glucose out of your blood without needing insulin. This happens because the muscle activity turns on signals that move glucose transporters to the muscle surface, letting more sugar enter the muscle and lowering blood sugar quickly. If you wait 30 minutes to walk, the sugar has already peaked in your blood and most of it is already being handled by insulin, so the walk doesn’t lower the peak.