Walking for the Brain and waistline
April 17th 2007 08:45
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Walk 10,000 steps a day and count on losing weight By James A. Fussell, who also gives this promising news for older people.
"And attention older Americans: If you walk long enough, you could even trigger biochemical changes that grow new neurons in your brain. A study by researchers at the University of Illinois, published late last year in the Journal of Gerontology, says three hours of brisk walking per day can help reverse brain shrinkage.
But you don't need to walk that long to see benefits. In an eight-year study involving 6,000 women, researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found that even a little extra walking can help you hold onto the neurons you have. High-energy walkers, the study found, held the line on cognitive decline far better than the more sedentary subjects.
By all accounts, your brain loves to walk. Walking increases blood circulation, and because it's not particularly strenuous, your leg muscles don't hog all the extra oxygen and glucose it produces. As you walk, you're oxygenating your brain. It's good for the rest of your body, too.
It increases your breathing, your heart rate and your lung capacity while shaping and toning your muscles. What's more, numerous studies of senior citizens who walk regularly showed significant improvement in memory skills compared with non-walkers. Walking also improved their learning ability, concentration and abstract reasoning. Additionally, one study noted, stroke risk was cut by 57 percent in people who walked as little as 20 minutes per day.
Dixie Thompson, director for the Center for Physical Activity and Health at the University of Tennessee, said that because extra walking lowers blood pressure and helps the body process glucose, it also can dramatically reduce your risk for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Of course slow walking isn't as good as fast walking, Thompson said, but it beats inactivity and still has health benefits."
For this complete article go to the following link - it's good for the younger as well as the older.
Exercise link
Of course, it would be pretty hard to walk for 3 hours per day, but 'stay on the feet' is obviously the way to go.
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