Page 40 - FS4 IN DECEMBER 2024

hormone production was still
high around the time of
natural death, and therefore
the metabolism high enough
tobensure minimum levels of
obesity. However, another
explanation could be that the
foods we had access to were
much healthier and without
the simple sugars and trans
fats we have plenty of in our
food today, and this evidently
also explains the low risk of
overweight.
There are even more things
that improve when we walk,
most notably digestion. When
we eat too much, especially,
walking is one of the few
things that makes our body
improve its ability to digest
food. There are many studies
that say that walking after a
big meal promotes digestion,
either by improving the
peristaltic movements of our
intestines or by the activity of
the stomach walls (which also
have a mechanical action, and
not just chemical, in
digestion). Another benefit,
although we may not notice it
in the short term, is the
improvement of
cardiopulmonary function.
Walking activates us and
regularizes both the exchange
of oxygen in the lungs and the
fact that our heart has a
moment for which this
“regular exercise” trains it to
be more effective. This causes
this exercise to adapt our
body to have better oxygen
uptake and heart rate

38 FITNESS STYLE