90-MINUTE WALK SLASHES YOUR RISK OF DEATH

AS A FUNDAMENTAL element of my Daily Dozen I recommend exercise — every day.

There’s now no doubt whatsoever that exercise is a great route to longer life. It can ward off, and possibly reverse, mild cognitive decline, boost your immune system, prevent and treat high blood pressure, and improve your mood and quality of sleep.

But I worry that the official line on exercise has set the bar too low. The authorities recommend levels that they think might be achievable (i.e. 20 minutes a day) but there are great health improvements on offer if you can manage more.

Following the current recommendations of moderate exercise (such as walking) for 20 minutes a day might reduce your overall mortality rate by 7per cent compared to someone who does no exercise at all.

But boosting that to 40 minutes a day doubles your health protection, dropping overall mortality by 14 per cent. Adding another 20 minutes, and taking an hour-long walk each day, might reduce your mortality risk by 24per cent. Wouldn’t you want to achieve that kind of risk reduction if you could? If you can do it, getting 90 minutes’ exercise is even better.

So that’s why my Daily Dozen recommendation is for 90 minutes of ‘moderate’ activity, or 40 minutes of ‘vigorous’ activity. You might not achieve that absolutely every day, but it is a good goal to aim for. Any amount, though, is better than nothing.