Steps may reduce your risk of cancer and heart disease
| Health tips: Walk your way to better health | | | Dear Reader,
The simple daily walk brings many health benefits, as researchers have noted for decades. New research further supports those benefits, finding that regular walks lower the risk of a range of health problems and even early death.
A study published in JAMA International Medicine looked at 78,500 people in the U.K., with a mean age of 61. Most were white, relatively, wealthy and without any significant heart problems. Women slightly outnumbered men. Each agreed to share data collected by wearing a step-counting device for a week. Health outcomes were monitored over a period of about seven years. | Those with more daily steps had a decreased risk of heart disease, 13 types of cancer and death over the study period. People who did short daily walks had improved outcomes over those who didn’t walk at all. But the most significant benefits were in those who walked more – up to the often-recommended 10,000 steps a day – and to those who walked at a brisker pace.
Mayo Clinic experts say that the study’s findings offer important new evidence to support overall health benefits of getting in your daily steps. If you’re eager to step more, start by finding out how many steps you walk a day. This is your baseline number. Gradually increase your steps you are below 4,400, shoot for that. If you are above 4,400, aim for 7,500. You don’t need to stop there. Movement is medicine and there’s no downside to getting 10,000 or more steps every day. |
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