Why an evening walk is a better after-dinner option than couch time

It’s tempting to flop on the couch after dinner, when your belly is full and you’re worn out from the daily grind. But instead of scrolling through your phone or mindlessly watching TV, it’s worth lacing up your shoes and going for a stroll.

An evening stroll is a common ritual in the Mediterranean. Credit: Stocksy

That’s what English writer Annabel Streets, author of 52 Ways to Walk, believes. While Annabel notes that Aussies seem to be more of a “morning walking” bunch, she says the culture of strolling in the evening is well and truly alive in the Mediterranean.

On a recent visit to Greece she was delighted to see crowds of people on the move at twilight. “You go out and everyone is promenading,” she says. “They’ll do this for an hour, two hours, sometimes three hours.”

Italians have a name for this beautiful, languid stroll: la passeggiata. It’s a tradition they partake in during the late afternoon or early evening and is a social event in which friends and family meet up to chew the fat and enjoy their surrounds.

For the past five years, Annabel has largely adopted this Mediterranean attitude herself, going for a walk almost every night after dinner. It’s neither a long nor strenuous activity, ranging from a 10-minute meander to a leisurely half-hour stroll.

Regardless of how long she walks, Streets says there are plenty of benefits. First, it’s good for you physically. In her book, she cites a study from the journal Gut which found that the “transit time” of food going through the gastrointestinal system was dramatically accelerated by moderate exercise.

“In other words,” she writes, “exercise helps keep everything moving, reducing our risk of constipation.”

Walking after dinner also helps to stop overindulgence. “Instead of sitting at the table and just picking, picking, picking, or topping up your glass of wine, it takes you away from over-eating and over-drinking,” she says.

There are mental health perks, too. In fact, Streets goes so far as to call the experience “oddly spiritual” and incredibly soothing.

“If you watch the news in the evening, you go to bed in a state of complete anxiety. But just going for a walk as the light is fading is very calming.”

“It’s much more calming than watching some gruesome Netflix horror movie or the news,” she says. “If you watch the news in the evening, you go to bed in a state of complete anxiety. But just going for a walk as the light is fading is very calming.”

You don’t have to get your heart thumping to get these benefits, either. Annabel says even 10 minutes of gentle strolling will see you reap rewards.

Tara Jenkins, a physiologist at Rebound Health, agrees. “Any movement is good movement,” she says, adding that even a short stroll is “definitely enough to help with your digestion, break up your day and get mood and mental health benefits, too”.

When it’s dark outside, Annabel likes a friend or family member to walk with her. She also sticks to well-lit places and avoids “shadowy suburbs”.

Rather than focusing on the length of the walk, she’s more concerned with ensuring she does it every evening, regardless of the weather. When it’s drizzling, she simply pops on her gumboots and rain jacket. And if it’s absolutely bucketing, Annabel tweaks her routine. Instead of heading outside she paces around her house, going for “an interior walk” instead.

But she hardly ever forgoes her evening stroll altogether. And if she does? “I feel a bit bereft,” she says.

Evelyn Lewin is a qualified GP and freelance writer.

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