Need reasons to get out and get fit? Here are a bunch of new
ones.
As the nation’s healthiest state for five years running,
Hawai`i folks don’t seem to need much of an excuse.
But maybe you need a little boost to get you out the door. Here you are.
If you’re older, being more fit means you probably also get
a better memory as a bonus.
“Cardiorespiratory fitness is one individual difference
factor that may attenuate brain aging, and thereby contribute to enhanced
source memory in older adults,” says this study led by researchers from
the Boston University School of Medicine.
They say that being fit “may contribute to neuroplasticity
among older adults, reducing age-related differences in some brain regions,
consistent with the brain maintenance hypothesis, but accentuating
age-differences in other regions, consistent with the brain compensation
hypothesis.”
And you may be reading a lot about anti-inflammatory diets
and the issues with inflammation in the body. Well, these researchers from the University of California at San Diego said that 20 minutes of exercise can reduce
inflammation.
You don’t need to go all out, but you shouldn’t dawdle,
either, they write. A fast walk is sufficient, they say..
“Decreased inflammatory responses during acute exercise may
protect against chronic conditions with low-grade inflammation,” the authors
wrote.
So, this isn’t news to most of us. Here’s here is one more study that says that if you exercise moderately to vigorously, you’re less likely
to die early.
It’s a pretty good-sized study. More than 5,000 people. The
health effect of exercise applies to both men and women. And the positive
impacts of exercise on mortality are impressive, as long as you do moderate to
vigorous physical activity. Dawdling, once again, does not have quite the same
positive impact.
Okay, and here’s one that makes perfect sense.
If you want
your kids to be fit and healthy, you need to set the example. This study suggests that parents who stay fit will have kids who will exercise at a higher
level.
The researchers actually attached equipment to family
members to measure their physical activity. They found, as you might expect,
that couch potato parents tended to have kids who lazed around more. And active
parents had more active kids.
“Considering how to reduce parental sedentary behavior and
increase (physical activity) behaviors could be a powerful point of
intervention,” wrote the authors, led by Shari Barkin of the Department of
Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
© Jan TenBruggencate 2017
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