Salut3 DEFINITIVE REASONS WHY WALKING IS MUCH BETTER THAN RUNNINGRunning and walking are both excellent aerobic exercises, as both help promote weight loss, improve your sleep, elevate your mood, boost your energy level, decrease blood pressure and cholesterol levels and decrease the risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

Many feel walking is more of a mode of transport than exercise, but it

really is one of the best things you can do for your body, your

looks and long-term health. Walking is more than just getting

from here to there, those steps are improving  cardiovascular

strength, strengthening & toning your muscles for more fat-burning

power and lowing the chance of disease.

Walking vs. Running

Brisk walking actually reduces the risk of heart disease more

effectively than running when the energy expenditure of both

activities is balanced out. A study where researchers compared data

from two studies over a period of six years of 33,060 runners and

15,045 walkers aged 18 to 80, found that when the same amount of

energy was expended, walkers experienced greater health benefits

than runners.

Running does reduce the risk of heart disease by 4.5% while walking

reduced it by 9.3%, however calorie for calorie, walking also had a

stronger impact on heart disease risk factors:

Risk of first-time high blood pressure was reduced by 4.2% by running

and 7.2% by walking.

First-time high cholesterol risk was lowered by 4.3% by running and

7% by walking.

The risk of first-time diabetes was reduced by about 12% by both

walking and running.

Study leader Dr Paul Williams, from the Lawrence Berkeley National

Laboratory in California stated that moderate-intensity walking and

running both provide ideal health benefits because they involve the

same muscle groups, they are just performed at different

intensities. The runners and walkers had to expend the same energy

to get the same benefits. That means you’d have to walk longer than

you’d have to run for the same effect.

Walking and running are low-cost, easy-to-do anywhere, year-round,

and even social activities. But since running is more rigorous than

walking, so if you're going to run, you should select a running

program to maximize your conditioning in minimum time.

Dangers Of Pushing Too Hard

A report published by researchers from Denmark in the Journal of the

American College of Cardiology, showed that people who push their

bodies too hard may essentially undo the benefit of exercise. Those

who ran at a fast pace more than four hours a week, for more than

three times per week, had about the same risk of dying during the

study’s 12-year follow up, as those who were sedentary and hardly

exercised at all. The link held up even after the researchers

accounted for potentially confounding factors such as age, sex,

whether the participants had a history of heart disease or diabetes, or

if they smoked and drank alcohol.

In fact, those with the lowest risk of dying during the study, were

people who ran less than three times a week for one to 2.4 hours, at a

slow to moderate pace. Even people who ran slightly more, for 2.5

hours to four hours a week at an average pace, less than 3X a week,

showed slightly higher mortality risk at 66%, which was something

that came as a surprise.

One looking to lose weight and stay healthy, should find a happy

medium that’s just right to maintain heart health, burn off excess

calories and keep blood sugar levels under control. According to

these results, that sweet spot is closer to the ‘less’ side of the curve

than the ‘more’ side. So the good news is that those who do not wish

to run, can obtain the same health and fitness benefits by walking

more.

 

Why Walking is Great For Almost Everyone

Walking is a great exercise for those who are just starting to workout

or for those with health problems. Also, for the significantly

overweight, walking can be less stressful on the body. An important

factor to consider when looking at the difference between running

and walking, is that because of the repetitive nature of running, the

risk of injury is greater. Running is considered high impact exercise.

This can cause injury to the hip, knee and ankle joints. Walking is a

low impact activity and is less damaging to the body.

While walking is easier on your hip and knee joints, you should still do

lunges or squats twice a week. The RealAge benefit of 10,000 steps a

day is feeling 4.6 years younger for women and 4.1 for men. You can

even find ways to fit walking in while you work, such as a walking

meeting or a treadmill desk.

Still Wanting To Run Rather Than Walk?

If you do choose to run, a way to reduce your risk of injury is by

running on the best surfaces such as grass, woodland trails, earth,

cinders and man-made tracks. Also, wear good quality shoes and be

sure to run with correct form and gradually increase the mileage that

you run.

World-first evidence suggests that meditation alters cancer survivors’ cellsFor the first time, scientists have found clear biological evidence that meditation and support groups can affect us on a cellular level.FIONA MACDONALD

8 NOV 2014

141k 1.8k

 We’re often told that being happy, meditating and mindfulness can benefit our health. We all have that one friend of a friend who says they cured their terminal illness by quitting their job and taking up surfing - but until now there’s been very little scientific evidence to back up these claims.

Now researchers in Canada have found the first evidence to suggest that support groups that encourage meditation and yoga can actually alter the cellular activity of cancer survivors.

Their study, which was published in the journal   Cancer   last week , is

one of the first to suggest that a mind-body connection really does

exist. 

The team found that the telomeres   - the protein caps at the end of our

chromosomes that determine how quickly a cell ages - stayed the

same length in cancer survivors who meditated or took part in support

groups over a three-month period.

On the other hand, the telomeres of cancer survivors who didn’t

participate in these groups shortened during the three-month study.

Scientists still don’t know for sure whether telomeres are involved in

regulating disease, but there is early evidence that suggests shortened

telomeres are associated with the likelihood of surviving several

diseases, including breast cancer, as well as cellular ageing.

And longer telomeres are generally thought   to help protect us from

disease.

"We already know that psychosocial interventions like mindfulness

meditation will help you feel better mentally, but now for the first time

we have evidence that they can also influence key aspects of your

biology," said Linda E. Carlson, a psychosocial research and the lead

investigator at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, in a press release. She

conducted the study alongside scientists from the University of

Calgary.

"It was surprising that we could see any difference in telomere length

at all over the three-month period studied,"  said Carlson . "Further

research is needed to better quantify these potential health benefits,

but this is an exciting discovery that provides encouraging news."

As part of the research, 88 breast cancer survivors who had completed

their treatment more than three months ago were monitored. The

average age of the participants was 55, and to be eligible to participate

in the study they all had to have experienced significant levels of

emotional distress.

They were separated into three groups  - one was asked to attend

eight weekly, 90-minute group sessions that provided instructions on

mindfulness meditation and gentle yoga. These participants were

asked to practice meditation and yoga at home for 45 minutes daily.

The second group met up for 90 minutes each week for the three

months, and were encouraged to talk openly about their concerns and

feelings.

The third control group simply attended one six-hour stress

management seminar.

Before and after the study, all participants had their blood analysed

and their telomere length measured.

Both groups who attended the support groups had maintained their

telomere length over the three-month period, while the telomeres of the

third group had shortened. The two groups who'd attended the regular

meetings also reported lower stress levels and better moods.

Although this is pretty exciting research, it’s still not known whether

these benefits will be long-term or what's causing this biological

effect. Further research is now needed to find out whether these

results are replicable across a larger number of participants, and what

they mean for our health long-term.

But it’s a pretty huge first step towards understanding more about how

our mental state affects our health. And it's part of a growing body of

research out there - a separate group of Italian scientists published

in   PLOS ONE  a few weeks ago also showed that mindfulness training

can change the structure of our brains.

Of course for many believers in meditation, this discovery probably isn't

that exciting. Research back in the '80s had suggested that cancer

patients who join support groups are more likely to survive. But as we

like to say, peer review or it didn't happen. 

We’re (sceptically) excited.

Source: EurekAlert