Daily walk is the Panacea for good health & Longevity Good advice by Dr. harold

Martin Luther Jr said it differently-

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther Jr. did not have health in mind when he cited the above to his people, but that citation applies well as a drive for good health.

I have my own saying- “Walk foreword and age backwards”

What this means is stay active all the time, without sedentarily sitting down, wasting time on watching TV series for hours, as most do.

How does walking help? Let’s discuss further.

Studies have shown, if you walk at a slow pace of two miles per hour you could lower your risk of getting most chronic diseases like heart disease, hypertension, diabetes by lowering the insulin resistance, arthritis and many others. If you walk faster, you are benefitted more.

Studies have shown that women who walk for 30 minutes a day may cut their risk of getting a stroke by 20-40%. When you are sedentary it retards blood circulation, and any form of regular walking or exercise you increase your heart rate supplying oxygen, and micronutrients to the cells, organs, tissues, muscles to keep them active and healthy. Heart becomes stronger to perform better at times of need for physical work.

Ideally, you are supposed to log 150 minutes of brisk walking to raise your heart rate at least twice a week. You don’t need any special equipment except a comfortable pair of walking shoes and a devise strapped in your wrist to record pulse rate and other data.

Is walking good as running for your heart?

Young fit people will always run or jog as cardiac workout, but the older people a good brisk daily walk is as good as a run, for your heart health. For many years the experts thought that running or jogging improves your heart health more than a brisk walk. But it turns out that brisk walking is just as good when it comes to cutting your risk of high blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, cholesterol levels if you do it regularly.

Should you walk indoors or outdoors?

It is traditional to do an early morning or late evening walk in a park or on road-sides. But the author of this article recommends indoor walking and the advantages are many:

You do not have to worry about the weather for the day and wear clothing accordingly. You could even walk in your comfortable pajamas, in your own environment.

You could ease at any time and rest on your usual comfortable chair for few minutes until you start again.

You could open the fridge and have a drink if you are thirsty, and toilet facilities in your own home is a great convenience.

You could do more steps indoors than outdoors. The author does 25,000 steps daily indoors whilst attending to other home routines, as well. You walk over 20 kilometers and burn over 1,000 calories.

This routine will lose weight, especially lose your visceral fat and that is a guaranty.

Being more active like walking daily can help people think, feel, and sleep better and perform daily tasks more comfortably at ease

These recommendations are based on the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. They recommend how much physical activity we need to be healthy. The guidelines are based on current scientific evidence supporting the connections between physical activity, overall health and well-being, disease prevention and quality of life.

Brisk walk a day, lowers your blood pressure by relaxing your peripheral blood vessels causing less strain on your heart to pump blood more forcefully. Not only it lowers the risk of high blood pressure, lowers your cholesterol, triglycerides levels in your arterial vessels. Walking also lowers your resistance to insulin and improves sensitivity, thereby lowering your sugar level in your blood, especially among the diabetics and those having metabolic syndrome.

A great advantage to the diabetics is that their blood sugar level drops as more is utilized by the muscles for quick energy. Those having good strong muscles from physical activities seem to absorb more sugar for energy than those having weak muscles. So, doing muscle strength exercises at the gym weekly and daily walking may cut down on antidiabetic medication among diabetics. If you are in the early (pre-diabetic) stage of diabetes, you may not need any medication, as exercise and walking alone will maintain a normal blood sugar level. This applies to type 2 diabetes only and not type 1.

Older people must walk daily to keep fit and feel young. So, my adage, “walk forward and Age backward” is true for older citizens. You tend to improve your cognition, including memory, attention and processing speed. You get better strong bone and good balance and even if you trip you may be able to prevent a fall, and less risk of injury.

Those who walk daily have fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety and your quality of life and sense of overall well-being improves.

You need to wear a pedometer or any other device to record the number of steps, mileage, and the pulse rate. Most smart phones have a health app you could download, which is most useful to record your daily activities plus your energy levels, and so on.

On an average an older person could do 7000 steps per hour. That is equivalent to roughly burning 300kcals and doing 5 km walk.

Walking and hormones

Walking in the jungle in a calm environment or at home can help balance hormones. Due to the calmness and being relaxed, you could reduce your cortisol levels, reduce blood pressure and heart rate and boost your immune system.

Sure, way to reduce visceral fat

According to the National Asthma Council Australia, you shouldn’t let asthma get in the way of being physically active. You need to take deep breathing exercises daily and with daily walks asthma seem to ease in most cases. For more information please refer-nationalasthma.org.au

Bottom line:

Walking is your steps to good health. The health benefits of walking are many, but mainly for heart health, lowering your risk of heart attack and stroke, reducing you risk of getting most chronic diseases, including cancer. Your appetite for food increases and you may enjoy your food better, you relate to your love ones at home and elsewhere at ease. Women who walk daily has a lower risk of getting breast cancer. A recent study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that physical activity has a direct link to improved life expectancy when it comes to breast cancer.

Do walk daily.

Hope this article initiates an incentive to start walking for better health and longevity.