I recently came across this little article on the Nubella Health site. It is really true! Just getting up off that couch and moving around, whether walking, running, biking, swimming, gardening…anything that gets you moving can do so much for your body, your brain, and your overall general health. So, get moving!!!

Walking Off the Extra Weight and Helping Your Brain
Tuesday, 03 April 2007

By Barbara C. Bourassa

There’s little doubt that walking is good for you. If you’ve got some extra weight to lose, a regular program of brisk walking three to four times per week can help. But did you know that as you walk you’ll also be benefiting other parts of your body, including your brain?

A regular walking program has many obvious benefits, starting with the fact that it gets you outside and breathing fresh air, it connects you with the outdoors or your neighborhood, and it gives you a break from your work or regular duties.

For some people, walking forces them to slow down and reflect on the world around them; for others, it’s a chance to breathe deeply while staying silent. For those of us who like walking with others, it gives us a chance to laugh, catch up, or just relax.

Walking also shares the same benefits as most types of regular exercise. Waking may help us:

• reduce the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes or other conditions;

• lose weight and maintain healthy weights;

• boost our immune systems;

• fight off depression and anxiety;

• strengthen our hearts.

And that’s not all

But there’s even more good news about the benefits of walking.

One new study says regular program of walking or other low-impact exercise may help fight off incontinence, while two new studies say regular exercise boosts brainpower, fights memory loss and may fend off dementia.

The first study, which appeared in March’s Obstetrics & Gynecology, reported that the more active the women, the less likely the chance of developing stress incontinence.

The study examined data collected from more than 100,000 women 54-79 participating in the Nurse’s Health Study. The researchers theorize that regular exercise helps strengthen the muscles of the pelvic floor, which support the bladder and urethra.

The ‘long list’

In the second study, conducted at Columbia University Medical Center, researchers pinpointed exactly what area of the brain benefits from exercise. Using MRI imaging, they identified the growth of new neurons following exercise in the dentate gyrus, a part of the brain associated with normal age-related memory decline.

“I, like many physicians, already encourage my patients to get active, and this adds yet another reason to the long list of reasons why exercise is good for overall health,” said Dr. Scott A. Small, the study’s lead author.

And the third study, conducted by researchers in France, found that two one-hour sessions of exercise per week led to a slower decline in nursing-home patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The exercise routines included walking, strength training, and balance and flexibility exercises, according to the study in February’s Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Many people view stress incontinence and memory decline as normal parts of aging, but study after study reveal that exercise can help fight these processes. In fact, regular exercise may be the cheapest anti-aging tool out there: experts at the American Heart Association say adults gain two hours of life expectancy for each hour of regular exercise.

The heart association has declared April 25 “Start Walking at Work Day” to get people more active while at their office. The association offers a variety of tools and resources designed to help employers or employees organize a regular walking program.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 10:44 am and is filed under Diet and Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.