|
HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Just Walk To Stay Away From Metabolic Syndrome! Metabolic syndrome is an increasingly common condition that is linked to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. It is a cluster of risk factors that raise the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and stroke. These risk factors include high blood sugar, high levels of the 'bad' cholesterol (LDL) and triglyceride levels, low levels of the 'good' cholesterol (HDL), high blood pressure and excess belly fat (a large waistline). A person is said to have metabolic syndrome when he or she has at least 3 of the 5 risk factors mentioned above. In United States, it is estimated that about one quarter of adults have metabolic syndrome. A study by Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina reported that even if a person does not make any dietary changes, a brisk 30-minute walk 6 days a week is enough to trim the waistlines and cut the risk of metabolic syndrome. The findings of the study, known as STRRIDE (Studies of a Targeted Risk Reduction Intervention through Defined Exercise), was funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in the American Journal of Cardiology in Dec 2007.
In the study, the investigators examined the effects of varying amounts and intensity of exercise on 171 middle-aged, overweight men and women. Before exercising regularly, 41 percent of the participants met the criteria for metabolic syndrome, but at the end of the 8-month exercise program, the number was reduced to only 27 percent. As you can see, the decline is significant. This is probably encouraging news for those sedentary, middle-aged adults who want to improve their health because they can forget about running 4 or 5 days a week. Instead, they simply walk around the neighborhood after dinner every night and they can still get significant health benefits. The researchers examined the health benefits gained in terms of metabolic syndrome scores by 3 groups of people. People who exercised the least, just walked 30 minutes 6 days a week (equivalent to about 11 miles per week) gained significant benefit; those who exercised the most (jogging about 17 miles per week) gained slightly more benefit, and those who did a short period of very vigorous exercise did not improve as much as those who performed less intense exercise for a longer period. The results also suggested that doing moderate intensity exercise every day has more health value than doing more intense activity just a few days a week. During the 8-month study period, all the exercisers lost inches around their waistline. On the other hand, the inactive control group gained an average of about one pound and a half-inch around the waist. This also indicates that if a person does not exercise at all, an additional 20 pounds and 10 inches at the belt line could be resulted over a decade. The result of this study has actually told us an important thing: some exercise is better than none, more exercise is generally better than less, and no exercise can be disastrous! So start exercise now!
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright
2007-2012 © HowToPreventHeartDisease.com . All Rights Reserved. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
