New info may light your fire

In the best of times, we are a sedentary nation. Around 76% of you don’t meet the minimum recommendations for aerobic and strength-building activities. And now that you’re staying home, there’s even less notion of motion.

There’s been a rush of new studies that confirm just how important it is to keep challenging your body.

1. Regular exercise boosts your immunity.

An international group of researchers published a study in Exercise Immunology Review that confirms regular exercise increases the immune system’s ability to identify and fight off pathogens and slows down agerelated changes that happen to the immune system, reducing the risk of infections.

2. Exercise has far-reaching effects on metabolism.

A study published in Cardiovascular Research has found that exercise’s impact on your metabolism is far greater than previously known. The researchers measured around 200 metabolites in the blood of 52 soldiers before and after an 80-day aerobic and strength exercise program. They found dramatic changes in many metabolites and that showed that trained, energy-efficient muscles use far more fuel, such as fat, than scientists knew.

3. Exercise protects your heart from diabetes-related failure and low-cal diet helps reverse diabetes.

According to a study out of the U.K. published in Diabetes Care, heart failure is one of the most common complications of Type 2 diabetes, and younger adults with Type 2 diabetes already have changes in their heart structure and function that pose a risk of developing heart failure. Twelve weeks of supervised aerobic training significantly improved participants’ heart function compared with the control group. And among a group that had a low-cal diet (around 810 calories daily) and no exercise — 83% of those folks saw a reversal of their Type 2 diabetes!

Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. To live your healthiest, tune into “The Dr. Oz Show” or visit www.sharecare. com.