It Is Never To Late To Begin or to Benefit From Healthy Living

It is never to late to begin or to benefit.... especially from being active. Keeping active is a habit well worth getting into because it can reduce the risk of heart disease and many other conditions.

A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine followed 3,500 healthy people at or around retirement age. Those who took up exercise were three times more likely to remain healthy over the next eight years than their sedentary peers. Exercise cut the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and depression. Even people who took up exercise in their 60s were less likely to struggle with day-to-day activities.

Even after taking into account smoking, those who regularly engaged in moderate or vigorous physical activity at least once a week were three to four times more likely to be healthy agers than those who had remained inactive. And the good news is that physical activity does not necessarily mean going to the gym or going for a run - everyday activities such as walking and gardening also count.

After eight years of follow-up, a fifth of the participants were defined as healthy - not suffering from any major chronic mental or physical illness. This group was largely made up of people who always exercised and relative newcomers to exercise. Few were people who did no exercise at all.

The national guidelines recommend all adults, including those over 65, do 150 minutes of physical activity a week.

As the old saying goes, use it or lose it!

In Health

Jeff