10,000 STEPS? FUGGEDABOUT IT, A NEW STUDY SAYS. While it is not the first to do so, this new research challenges the idea that you must hit 10,000 steps daily to see health benefits. Today we focus on cracking the longevity code. We’ll look at the 4,000-step solution.
If you want to learn more about “fuggedaboutit,” I’ve got you covered:
Fuggedabout It: New York Accent On Its Way Out, LinguistsLet’swww.wnyc.org
Let’s get back to the subject of walking your way to health.
Walk Your Way to Health
How much walking do you need to do to lower your risk of suffering a premature death?
A recent European Journal of Preventive Cardiology analysis provides some clues.
Researchers pooled the results of 17 studies examining the health benefits linked with step counts across six countries.
Cracking the Longevity Code: The 4,000-Step Solution
The studies analyzed included nearly 227,000 participants. Most were generally healthy, and the average follow-up was seven years.
The subjects came from Australia, Japan, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Here are the results:
The least active people took around 4,000 steps per day and still saw a reduced risk of death from any cause. The more steps people took, the lower their risk of dying.
For every extra 1,000 steps, there was a 15 percent drop in a person’s overall risk of premature death.
Therewalking’sappear to be an upper limit to walking’s health benefits. Moreover, Younger adults had greater benefits (from walking) than older adults.
More Study Details
The researchers also examined the chances of dying from cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack or stroke.
For cardiovascular disease, walking daily at least 2,337 steps reduced the risk, with each extra 500 daily steps associated with an additional seven percent relative reduction in risk.
These figures stood out to me:
For adults under 60, walking 7,000 to 13,000 steps lowered the risk of death by half (49 percent). For those ages 60 and older, walking 6,000 to 10,000 daily steps lowered the risk by two-fifths (42 percent).
What a remarkable risk reduction. From simply walking.
So What About 10,000 Steps?
The recommendation to aim for 10,000 steps originated from a 1965 Japanese marketing campaign for a pedometer called “Manpo-kei,” which translates to “10,000 steps meter.”
Given 10,000 is a nice clean number, it stuck. Nevertheless, there was no scientific evidence to suggest there was anything magical about 10,000.
Many of my patients are minimally active. Now I can ask them to aim for 5,0000 daily steps. Did you know that the average American takes only 4,774 steps daily, according to a 2017 study?
On the other hand, if you can, I want to nudge you to step up your game. (See what I did there?)
Walking improves heart health and reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Add resistance training twice per week, and voila!
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 for medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information in this blog.
Thank you for reading “Crack the Longevity Code.”
