Today, I want to share with you 4 top walking benefits.

“But the beauty is in the walking — we are betrayed by destinations.”
― Gwyn Thomas

I RECENTLY RETURNED FROM A FABULOUS trip to Great Britain. London, the ancient Roman city of Bath, and Edinburgh. Is one special thing common to all of these places? There are all remarkably walkable.

I do much of my best thinking while ambulating. If I need to be creative in finding a solution to a problem in the cancer management realm, you will find me wandering just outside my hospital. Before work, during breaks, at home in the evening — you will find me moving.

While walking recently in Kauai (the so-called garden island of Hawaii), I wondered how many health benefits I gained from walking. I have historically been a bit of a gym rat. Getting to a third-level black belt with a traditional Japanese teacher meant commitment.

But I also know folks living in the world’s longevity centers or Blue Zones — Okinawa, Sardinia, the Nicoya peninsula of Costa Rica, and Seventh-Day Adventists in the United States — don’t go to the gym. Let that sink in: The places where people have the longest lifespans (and healthspans) don’t use gyms.

What is the magic sauce to longevity in years and in health? There are several, but one of them is building movement into their lives. Today we look at three ways you can walk you way to better health.

1. Walking improves heart health.

First, a reminder: Good heart health often promotes good brain health. You may wonder how much walking improves your risk of suffering from heart disease.

I love this remarkable statistic from the National Heart Foundation of Australia:

Walking for an average of 30 minutes or more a day can lower the risk of heart disease and stroke by over one-third (35 percent).

2. Walking reduces early death risk.

Yes, I am an evangelist for walking. I love it when my patients move in any way. If I have not yet convinced you that walking can be, for many, a health elixir, a study presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Conference 2021 may change your view:

• Study subjects who took more steps in short spurts lived longer, no matter how many steps they did in longer, uninterrupted bouts. The benefits topped off at roughly 4,500 steps daily in short bursts.
• Compared with no steps, an initial increase of 1,000 steps daily is associated with a 28 percent in early death.
• Those walking for 2,000 steps without interruption had a one-third reduction in early death risk.

In a separate research study, those walking at least 7,000 steps dropped their risk of early death by up to 70 percent. The investigators also reported that middle-aged men and women walking over 10,000 steps (congratulations to me and my fellow over-achievers) lowered their risk of premature death.

3. Walking improves blood sugar.

Did you know walking can improve your blood glucose (sugar) levels? Walk regularly, and you may lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by nearly one-third (30 percent). That’s the finding of a meta-analysis of over 300,000 participants.

Moreover, those walking briskly (faster than 20 minutes per mile, or three miles per hour) had a 41 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Still not convinced? I offer research results from the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2020.

• Middle-aged individuals walking the most steps had a 43 percent lower risk of diabetes (in addition to a nearly one-third (31 percent) reduction in the chances of developing high blood pressure).
• Each 1,000-step increase led to a small (13 percent) drop in obesity risk. Those with the highest step count appeared 61 percent less likely to be obese compared with women walking the least amount. Of note, no such obesity risk reduction appeared among men.

4. Walking can improve mood.

Walking (and other forms of physical activity) can reduce depression. A recent study discovered that walking at a moderate pace for 2.5 hours per week appeared to be associated with a significantly lower risk of depression than adults who don’t exercise.

Exercise may be working its magic through the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin, targets for certain antidepressant drugs.

Duke University (USA) researchers examined depressed adults, aged 50 to 77. The results are striking:

Regular exercise compared favorably in reducing depression over 16 weeks with taking the antidepressant Zoloft (a commonly prescribed drug targeting serotonin) and the combination of taking the drug and exercising.

The Duke University researchers also reported a subsequent study, with an additional six months of follow-up. The results confirm the longer-term positive effects of physical activity.

The participants who continued to exercise after completing the initial study appeared much less likely to see their depression return than the other patients. Only eight percent had their depression return for those doing exercise, while 38 percent of the drug-only group (and 31 percent of the exercise plus drug group) relapsed.

“We found an inverse relationship between exercise and the risk of relapsing — the more one exercised, the less likely one would see their depressive symptoms return,” study lead author Dr. James Blumenthal explains. “For each 50-minute increment of exercise, there was an accompanying 50 percent reduction in relapse risk.”

The study authors speculate that depressed individuals who attribute their improved mental health to their own efforts may feel more empowered — and are therefore less likely to relapse into depression than those who may have attributed their improvement to taking a pill.

Blumenthal cautions that the study did not include subjects who were acutely suicidal or had what is termed psychotic depression. Also, since ads recruited patients, they were motivated to get better and interested in exercise.

My take — 4 top walking benefits

Regular physical activity (such as walking) may help reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. Moving helps with blood sugar, weight management, and mood for many.

I did not address the many other benefits of walking, including cancer risk reduction and bone health promotion (potentially lowering your risk of osteoporosis and bone breaks).

Walking can help improve your balance and coordination. With this improvement, you can drop your chances of traumatic falls.

Just move!

If you are aged 18 to 64, if possible, aim for 150 minutes of moderate physical activity every week. That’s 30 minutes on five days of the week. Moderate means that the activity requires some effort, but you are still able to have a conversation comfortably.

Not up for 30 minutes? You may want to break the 30 minutes of walking into three 10-minute sessions for five days per week. You will get the same benefits as continuous sessions of 30 minutes.

For those of us already meeting the guidelines, consider picking up the pace: Move harder and longer. To maximize the benefits of movement, try 300 minutes of moderate activity weekly (or 150 minutes of vigorous exercise; by vigorous, I mean exercise that makes you breathe faster and harder (for example, jogging).

Most importantly, remember this: When it comes to heart health, some activity is better than none. Please visit your healthcare provider for advice on beginning your physical activity program.

I’ll end with a photo from my recent trip to Edinburgh, a city I highly recommend.

Thank you for joining me today in this look at 4 top benefits of walking.

The information I provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you seek medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information in this blog.