Walk to Fight Off 5 Diseases

One of the simplest, safest, and most effective exercises is walking. It’s a low-impact, gentle way to improve fitness that almost anyone can enjoy. It can also trim your waist while improving many aspects of your health, such as lowering your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes or helping to manage the disease if you already have it. Let walking help you fight these five diseases:

1. Diabetes

A British study found that walking regularly improved Type 2 diabetes by burning fat, which helps control blood glucose levels. Subjects with diabetes were asked to wear pedometers and to walk more than 10,000 steps daily. An advanced MRI showed that extra walking burned 20 percent more fat. “These findings prove that even gentle physical activity is vital in managing Type 2 diabetes,” Dr. Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, told Medical News Today. Studies have found that even if you have a family history of diabetes, walking still helps lower your changes of developing it.

2. Dementia

The Honolulu-Asian Aging Study found that men between 71 and 93 years of age who walked two miles a day slashed their risk of developing dementia in half when compared to men who walked less than a quarter of a mile daily. Italian researchers studied patients who had memory problems for four years. They found that those who expended the most energy in physical activities, which included walking, had a 27 percent lower risk of developing dementia.

3. Stroke

A study from the Harvard School of Public Health found that women who walk at least two hours a week reduce their risk of a stroke by 30 percent. Those who walked at a pace of 3 miles an hour lowered their risk by 37 percent. “Physical activity, including regular walking, is an important modifiable behavior for stroke prevention,” Jacob Sattelmair of the Harvard School of Public Health, said in a statement. “Physical activity is essential to promoting cardiovascular health and reducing risk of cardiovascular disease, and walking is one way of achieving physical activity.”

In addition, a study from University of South Carolina researchers found that men and women who walked briskly five days a week for 30 minutes, lowered their risk of a stroke by 40 percent when compared with those on the lowest fitness level.

4. Breast cancer

The Nurse’s Health Study found that a taking a brisk walk several times a week lowered the risk of developing breast cancer by 20 percent. The same study found that walking three hours each week improved the survival rates of those fighting breast cancer by 50 percent. “We were able to show that even a moderate amount of physical activity improved the odds of surviving breast cancer," lead investigator Dr. Michelle D. Holmes, said in a statement. “It is especially heartening for women recovering from breast cancer to know that the benefit is as readily accessible as walking for 30 minutes on most days of the week."

5. Depression

Researchers at Duke University observed that a brisk walk three times a week may be as effective in relieving major depression as medication. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine studied patients who were prescribed exercise, medication, or a combination of both. At the end of 16 weeks, patients in all three groups showed similar, significant improvement. One study showed after walking daily for seven weeks, improvements in mood lasted for five months.