walking,walking,walking
Sep 11, 2012
Sep 11, 2012
Did you
know that every minute you walk can extend your life by 1.5 to 2 minutes? In
addition, many studies show that people who walk regularly live longer, weigh
less, have lower blood pressure, and enjoy better overall health than
non-walkers.
Ready to
lace on your shoes? If you want to add to the amount of walking you do, just
clip on a pedometer. That simple action actually increases your physical
activity by over 2100 steps per day, a review that pooled data from 26 studies found.
Here's a
look at ten benefits of walking.
Walking
Increases Your Lifespan
Walking
more than an hour a day improves life expectancy significantly, a 2011 study showed. The researchers looked at 27,738
participants between the ages of 40 and 79 over a 13-year period. Surprisingly,
their lifetime medical costs did not increase-even though they lived longer.
"An
increase in walking time at the population level would bring about a tremendous
change in people's health and medical cost," the study authors wrote.
Walking
Wards Off Diabetes
Just thirty minutes of walking a day can prevent
diseases such as type 2 diabetes, a
2002 study looking at both overweight and average weight men and women in a
population at high risk for the disease showed.
If you
already have diabetes, walking is helpful for you, too. A mile or more daily
cuts your risk of death from all causes in half, according to a
2007 study.
Walking
Keeps Your Mind Sharp
Walking
72 blocks a week (around six to nine miles) helps increase grey matter, which
in turn lowers the risk of suffering from cognitive impairment-or trouble with
concentration, memory and thought, according to a study which looked at 299 seniors over a
nine-year period.
Furthermore,
walking five miles per week can provide some protection to the memory and learning areas of
the brains of those already suffering from Alzheimer's disease or mild
cognitive impairment, and lead to a slower decline in memory loss.
Walking
Helps Lower Blood Pressure
Walking
just 30 minutes a day, three to five days a week-even when the 30 minutes are
broken into three ten-minute increments-has been found to significantly lower blood pressure.
Walking
is Great for Bone Health
Putting
one foot in front of the other for about a mile a day led to improved bone
density in post-menopausal women, and slowed the rate of bone loss from the
legs, according to a 1994 study. "It takes walkers four to seven years
longer to reach the point of very low bone density, study leader Dr. Krall told the New York Times.
Walking
Cuts the Risk of Stroke
Walking
about 12.5 miles a week or more cut the risk of stroke in half, according to a
study looking at over 11,000 Harvard University alumni with an average age
of 58.
Walking
Improves Your Mood
If you're feeling down in the dumps, walking is
a quick and easy solution. Just thirty minutes on a treadmill reduces feelings
of tension and depression, according to research
published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. In fact, the study found
that walking lifted moods more quickly than anti-depressants did (and with
fewer side effects).
And the
more people walk, the better their mood and energy, says California State
University Long Beach professor Robert Thayer, based on a study looking at 37 study participants over a 20-day
period.
Walking
Torches Calories
Just 20
minutes of walking a day will burn 7 pounds a year. The effects are even
more dramatic when you add in some dietary changes as well.
Walking
Improves Insomnia
Having
trouble sleeping at night? Try taking a brisk 45-minute walk in the morning five
days a week, and your sleep may improve significantly, according to research from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in
Seattle, which looked at women from the age of 50-74. (Walking in the evening,
however, sometimes has the opposite effect-so keep an eye on when you're
exercising and what your sleep patterns are.)
Walking
is Good for the Heart
Women who took brisk walks for three or more
hours per week reduced their risk of heart disease by 30-40 percent, according
to an analysis of over 72,000 women aged 40-65, who were
enrolled in the prospective Nurses' Health Study. As I reported recently, heart attacks kill more US women than
men annually. However, the benefits of walking aren't limited to one gender. A different
study showed that walking can cut the risk of coronary heart disease in
half for men between the ages of 71 and 93.