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A most powerful prescription: Exercise
While January often brings more people to the gym to fulfill their New Year’s resolutions to get in shape, a growing amount of research is showing an abundance of other reasons to exercise.
“No pill or nutritional supplement has the power of near-daily moderate activity in lowering the number of sick days people take,” says Dr. David Nieman, director of Appalachian State University’s Human Performance Lab in Kannapolis, N.C.
Dr. Nieman was quoted in a January 5, 2010, Wall Street Journal article discussing the hidden benefits of exercise. Dr. Nieman has conducted several studies showing that people who walked briskly for 45 minutes, five days a week over 12 to 15 weeks had fewer and less severe upper respiratory tract infections, such as colds and flu. These people reduced their number of sick days 25% to 50% compared with sedentary control subjects.
Immune system boost
And with January being a prime time in the cold and flu season, here’s another reason to get moving: Exercise has been shown to improve the body’s response to the influenza vaccine, making it more effective at keeping the virus at bay.
Physical activity is well known to help maintain a healthy weight and reduce stress. Now, mounting evidence is showing that regular exercise—as simple as a brisk 30- to 45-minute walk five times a week—can boost the body’s immune system, increasing the circulation of natural killer cells that fight off viruses and bacteria. Regular workouts may also help fight off colds, reduce the risk of certain cancers and chronic diseases, and slow the process of aging.
While many public school employees and students have joined the exercise parade, there is still room for more. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 36% of U.S. adults didn’t participate in any leisure-time physical activity in 2008.
Bigger impact than weight loss
Even lean men and women who are inactive are at higher risk of death and disease, according to the Wall Street Journal. So while reducing obesity is an important goal, “the better message would be to get everyone to walk 30 minutes a day” says Robert Sallis, co-director of sports medicine at Fontana Medical Center, a Southern California facility. “We need to refocus the national message on physical activity, which can have a bigger impact on health than losing weight."
Regular exercise has been shown to combat the ongoing damage done to cells, tissues and organs that underlies many chronic conditions. Studies have found that exercise can lower blood pressure, reduce bad cholesterol, and cut the incidence of Type 2 diabetes.
How to meet guidelines
The federal government, which issued its first physical-activity guidelines for Americans in 2008, is working with medical and fitness groups to develop a National Phsyical Activity plan to encourage their use. The challenge is to get people to view exercise in the same way as many do their prescription drugs: Take them daily to stay healthy.
Here are the federal recommendations for adults:
| • | At least two hours and 30 minutes a week of moderate-intensity, or one hour and 15 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. Aerobic-activity episodes should last at least 10 minutes, preferably spread through the week. Additional health benefits are gained from as much as doubling the minimum recommended time spent each week in moderate or vigorous aerobic physical activity. |
| • | Muscle-strengthening activities for all major muscle groups two or more days a week. |
Moderate activity can include ballroom and line dancing; biking on level ground or with a few hills; canoeing; gardening (raking, trimming shrubs); tennis (doubles); brisk walking; water aerobics.
Among vigorous-activity exercises are aerobic dance; biking faster than 10 miles an hour; heavy gardening (digging, hoeing); tennis (singles); jumping rope; swimming laps; hiking uphill; race walking, jogging or running.
The guidelines were developed by the Department of Health and Human Services and available online at www.health.gov/paguidelines.
