Exercise level more important than weight in predicting premature death: study

How to prevent pre-diabetes or borderline diabetes

The benefits of exercising cannot be overemphasized. I believe that doctors and other healthcare providers should be advising their patients to ‘run a mile and call me in the morning’ instead of taking two tablets. It gives the exerciser not just a physical well being but also a mental uplift.

If you’ve been sedentary for a while or feeling depressed and overwhelmed try becoming more active . . . . take up a sport. It doesn’t have to be football or basketball . . . .  it could be bowling or billiards, where you will meet other likeminded individuals.

Don’t forget, it is possible to carry more weight than normal and still be healthy as the following article points out.

 

Exercise level more important than weight in predicting premature death: study 

You already know that exercise is good for you. Now, new research suggests that how much you work out is a better predictor of your risk for premature death than what size you are.

All it might take is a daily brisk 20-minute walk to cut your risk of early death by up to 30%, according to a new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge studied 334,000 European men and women and saw that there were at least double the number of deaths that could be due to lack of exercise rather than obesity.

Burning an extra 90 to 110 calories a day — possible with a 20-minute walk — can take a person from the “inactive” category the researchers noted to the “moderately inactive” category, slashing their risk of premature death by 16% to 30%. The effects were noticed mostly in normal-weight people, but overweight people also benefited.

“This is a simple message: just a small amount of physical activity each day could have substantial health benefits for people who are physically inactive,” said study leader Professor Ulf Ekelund from the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge.

“Although we found that just 20 minutes would make a difference, we should really be looking to do more than this — physical activity has many proven health benefits and should be an important part of our daily life.”

You can view the original post here.

P.S. Remember, if you are starting an exercise program for the first time, then you will want to go slowly until your body adjusts. It would be advisable to speak to a personal trainer who could lay out a program which is progressive . . . . meaning it changes as you progress.

P.P.S.  For more information on how to start an exercise regimen visit How to Prevent Pre-diabetes.

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