To maintain a healthy life, exercise is just as important as diet control. This is because an active body becomes a shortcut to a quick escape from illness.
Research has also shown that even people who find it difficult to do vigorous exercise can significantly reduce the incidence of various adult diseases, including cancer, if they do light but regular exercise.
Among the various exercises, ‘walking’ is one of the most accessible exercises. Let’s look at various studies to see how much and how walking is the most effective way to prevent disease.
◇ Walking 45 minutes a day prevents cancer
According to a study by the American Cancer Society, it was found that 300 minutes of exercise per week helps prevent cancer. This exercise effect can be translated into walking for 45 minutes a day.
Even regular walking, not extreme exercise, can significantly reduce cancer cell activity. Professor Siobhan Phillips from Northwestern University in the United States also analyzed the correlation between prostate cancer and walking.
The study found that men who walked more than three hours a week had a better prognosis related to prostate cancer, including fatigue and weight gain. A similar effect was seen when walking briskly for 90 minutes.
Professor Phillips emphasized the results of the study, saying, “It shows that going for a walk can improve the prognosis (related to cancer).”
The biggest reason why various exercises, including walking, prevent cancer, is to increase immunity. According to the Karolinska Research Center in Sweden, exercise helps prevent tumor growth by increasing the activity of immune cells that attack cancer cells.
◇ Effect of walking 10,000 steps a day
Research results have also been published that some walking, regardless of exercise time, reduces the risk of cancer-related death.
A Danish research team analyzed 78,500 adults using UK Biobank data and found that people suffering from cancer and cardiovascular disease had an 11% lower risk of death for every 2,000 steps taken a day. The risk of death gradually decreased until they walked up to 10,000 steps a day.
Walking 10,000 steps a day helps prevent various diseases including cancer. As a result of analyzing 6042 adults in the United States for 3 years, the risk of obesity was reduced by 31% in the case of people who walked 10,000 steps a day.
Walking is also effective in preventing dementia. According to a paper published in JAMA Neurology, an international journal published by the American Medical Association, walking 3800 steps a day can reduce the risk of dementia by 25%.
The effectiveness of walking goes beyond disease prevention and leads to longevity. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts in the United States analyzed 15 papers related to walking and longevity, and found that walking 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day reduces the risk of premature death in adults over 60 years old.
Dr Kazuto Tsukita from Japan, who conducted a study on the correlation between walking and disease, said in an interview with Maeil Business Newspaper “that regular physical activities such as walking and housework can improve the course of disease in the long term.” emphasize the importance of walking regularly.
