Walking improves your health

The importance of being physically active is something we talk about all the time — because it isn’t something that many have figured out how to fit into their lives. Less than 5% of American adults get 30 minutes of physical activity daily.

Walking at a moderate/intense pace will bring you immediate joy (all those feel-good endorphins get released) and long-term good health. Study after study shows that exercise is a warrior against a host of chronic conditions, from cancer and diabetes to headaches and digestive woes. Did you know that you could walk away from these five problems too?

1. Adopting a daily walking routine eases depression because it stimulates release of proteins that cause the growth of nerve cells and new nerve cell connections in your brain.

2. Walking five to six miles a week can help prevent arthritis, and once it develops, regular walking helps strengthen muscles that support the joints, taking pressure off them. It also boosts circulation of synovial fluid, which helps lubricate joints.

3. You can walk away from the flu and other infections. One study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that men and women who did aerobic activity (like interval walking) at least 20 minutes a day, at least five days a week had 43% fewer sick days than those who exercised once a week or less. And if they did get sick, it was for a shorter duration and their symptoms were milder.

4. Walking turns off weightgaining genes! Researchers at the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health reported that walking briskly for about 60 minutes daily reduced the obesity-promoting effect of 32 different genes by 50%!

5. Walking seven or more hours a week reduces breast cancer risk by 14% compared with women who walked three or fewer hours weekly, according to an American Cancer Society study.