The U.S. surgeon general prescribed a single activity to the nation on Wednesday, pointing to its ability to reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It’s walking.
Doctors and health experts agree that walking is safe enough for just about everyone to do. It’s also effective enough to stave off disease, maintain your weight and control pain from chronic disease. It costs nothing and can be done just about anytime, just about anywhere.
While Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recommends American adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week, as well as two days of resistance training, a 2010 survey found that the overwhelming majority of people don’t meet these standards. To help get into the swing of walking, here are some reasons today is a good day to start walking…
- Walking is linked to lower rates of obesity. The Mayo Clinic notes that 30 minutes of walking a day can help you reach a calorie deficit that leads to weight loss.
- It helps prevent diabetes. Walking helps regulate blood sugar levels, which in turn keeps insulin levels low and diabetes at bay.
- Walking is good for your heart. A 2013 study found that walkers who cover the same mileage as runners enjoy comparable reductions in high blood pressure, high cholesterol and coronary heart disease. While it took twice as long for walkers to cover the distance, walking may be a more sustainable and accessible activity than running for most people.
- Walking is gentle enough for people of all body types. Arthritic? Obese? Pregnant? Walking is gentle for most people who have these conditions, and it can ease the pain of chronic illness.
- It lifts your mood and protects against depression. Moving your body is a well-known way to release endorphins, a set of feel-good chemicals that dull pain receptors in the brain, sedate you and even give you feelings of happiness and euphoria. That’s why exercise, and walking in particular, is recommended to help improve symptoms of mild to moderate depression.
- It can help you sleep better at night. There’s a reason that travel experts advise you to walk around a new city on the day you arrive. Exposing your body to the sunlight and staying outside until it grows dark helps recalibrate the hormone melatonin to your new surroundings and time zone.
- Walking is affordable and accessible. There’s no gym membership, fancy exercise clothing or even walking-specific shoes you need to start. Fancy toys like step counters, earbuds and music players are not needed, but many people enjoy using them.
- Walking outdoors increases your probability of seeing birds, butterflies and sunsets. This is not a scientific fact, but it makes sense. Wild author Cheryl Strayed wrote, “There’s a sunrise and sunset every day. You can choose to be there for it. You can put yourself in the way of beauty.
huffposthealth.com
September 11, 2015