What if there was a miracle pill that if you took it each day would give you a 30% less chance of getting heart disease, a 50% less chance of diabetes and would help you live a longer and healthier life? Even better, what if it is FREE?
You already have it built into your body: it’s the ability to WALK!
Put on your walking shoes for 20-30 minutes a day and you will reap tremendous health benefits, according to recent health studies published in major medical journals. Walking is associated with decreased risk of diabetes. As little as a half hour a day is associated with decreased risk of heart disease. Walking also provides weight-bearing exercise to help maintain your bone density and prevent osteoporosis. Walking is almost the perfect exercise and requires no equipment or expense.
According to the American Heart Association, up to 12 percent of all deaths in the United States can be attributed to lack of activity. Lack of exercise is linked to a greater risk of many diseases including diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease. Benefits you receive from walking:
• The risk of heart disease and stroke is reduced.
• Blood pressure lowers
• Cholesterol lowers
• Body fat shrinks
• Overall good feeling develops
• Bone density increases
• Pain of arthritis is less; all pains are lessened with gentle walking!
• The risk of colon cancer is reduced
• Danger of diabetes is reduced
• Body weight is better controlled
• Depression is diminished or relieved
Heart Disease
Overwhelming evidence has demonstrated that moderate exercise can cut your chances of having a heart attack by up to half. Scientific studies have shown that moderate physical activity such as a brisk walk enhances cardiovascular health and helps protect against heart disease.
• A Stanford University study found that people who were sedentary had a 30-40% greater risk of dying from coronary heart disease then those who exercised moderately. Brisk walking helps clear dangerous fats from blood and cuts the risk of clogged arteries.
Walking at a moderate pace 30 minutes a day can cut the risk of heart disease by as much as 40%. Walking firms up muscles and raises the heart rate. It strengthens the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, reducing your risk of heart disease.
Diabetes
Exercise benefits people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. It helps lower glucose levels by removing glucose from the blood to use for energy during and after exercise. It also helps prevent large blood vessel and heart disease, a leading killer of people with diabetes. In some cases, regular exercise can reduce the need for insulin in type 1 diabetics and can reduce or eliminate the need for insulin or medication for those with type 2 diabetes.
Some of the positive effects that physical activity can have on people with type 2 diabetes are:
• Lower rates of obesity
• You strengthen your heart
• Blood sugar levels stabilize
• Your body cells become more responsive to insulin
Back Pain
Did you know that sitting causes more back pain than heavy lifting? Sitting puts a lot of strain on your lower back. The longer you sit, the more it hurts. That's because 40 percent more weight is placed on the lower spine when you’re sitting. Your spine was not designed to sit in chairs for hours on end. Research has demonstrated that regular walking can help ease chronic back pain.
Fibromyalgia
One of the best ways to obtain relief from fibromyalgia is through movement. There is evidence that that sweating can ease the pain of fibromyalgia dramatically. Myofascial therapy can also diminish the symptoms of this painful condition. Swimming, water exercises and tai chi are examples of helpful movement (it gets to the core of fibromyalgia). It causes an increase in sympathetic nerve activity and helps restore balance in the autonomic nervous system.
Think of muscles like the cement in a cement truck. The cement is always in motion, even at a stoplight. If the motor stops, the concrete sets. This image is helpful in reminding people that muscles stiffen if they are not warm and moving. Modern life is sedentary and that leads to a myriad of downgrading health conditions, physical & mental.
Find something your body loves to do and you love to do with your body. Fibromyalgia patients feel betrayed, at war and frustrated with their bodies. In general, managing FM successfully is realizing you and your body are on the same team. You’re a winner when you keep yourself together!
Stress & Depression
Stress has many causes but most experts agree that lack of exercise is a major factor. The inactive body tires easily and finds it difficult to cope with the demands placed upon it by modern living. A growing number of studies are showing that the mood-boosting effects of simply walking can help fight clinical depression. Exercise is the most reliable mood elevator known to man. It stimulates the production of endorphins, which heighten mood and relieve pain.
Did you know that walking for 30 minutes each day has been shown to improve symptoms faster than antidepressant drugs typically do. Researchers concluded that exercise is a viable and at least equally effective alternative to traditional medical treatment involving drugs. (Psychosomatic Medicine, Sept/Oct 2000.)
Longevity
Regular physical activity is associated with reduced mortality rates for both older and younger adults. Walkers live longer!
Walk Your Way To Health: Changes that come from exercise are not solely the result of chemical c in the brain. Your attitude changes as you become more confident of your abilities. Any time you set goals and achieve them though regular practice and discipline, you have feelings of mastery. You have replaced negative habits with positive ones. You have power!
There is no doubt about it. Walking is good for you. It's good for your heart, it's good for your lungs, it's good for your muscles and bones and it's good for your overall feeling of well being. Whether you want to improve your general health, keep fit, control your weight or recover from ill health, walking can help.
If you have been inactive for a while, start at a comfortable pace. Walk one block today, two tomorrow and build up slowly to about 16 blocks a day. Your goal for cardiovascular fitness: reach the points of breathlessness & perspiration together. These are your built-in protection signs. Building this way allows you to become physically fit without straining your body.
Try walking your way to health!
Dr. Sadowsky is a Naturopathic Physician and also holds a Doctorate in the Chinese Classics of Internal Medicine. He is a Founder of the American Academy of Acupuncture Medicine (né: NAAAMAR), a Founder of the International Neijing Society and is active as a speaker, tutor, and author of Integrative Therapy Manuals, Medical Texts, New Age Books and Journal articles. He is published internationally & has received recognition in 32 countries for his successful program to stop smoking in one twenty-minute (drug-free) visit and for his program for weight-control without dieting.