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Motivation Monday: Exercise can be best prescription to avoid illness
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. -- As millions of Americans are starting their new workout routines in the name of weight loss don't discount another worthwhile reason to exercise - to reduce your number of sick days and reduce your over-the-counter needs for cold and flu meds. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article (Jan 5, 2010) stating that "A growing body of research is showing that regular exercise-as simple as a brisk 30- to 45-minute walk five times a week-can boost the body's immune system, increasing the circulation of natural killer cells that fight off viruses and bacteria. And exercise has been shown to improve the body's response to the influenza vaccine, making it more effective at keeping the virus at bay." WSJ reports that David Nieman, director of Appalachian State University's Human Performance Lab in Kannapolis, N.C. , has conducted several randomized controlled studies showing that people who walked briskly for 45 minutes, five days a week over 12 to 15 weeks had fewer and less severe upper respiratory tract infections, such as colds and flu. These subjects reduced their number of sick days 25% to 50% compared with sedentary control subjects, he says. "No pill or nutritional supplement has the power of near-daily moderate activity in lowering the number of sick days people take," says Nieman. Another thing to note in this study was the reduced number of symptoms and the reduced severity of the illness for 'committed regular' exercisers compared to those who only exercise "periodically." Regarding the federal guidelines for healthy Americans, moderate regular exercise would include 150 minutes of cardiovascular activity per week and 2 or more sessions of muscle- strengthening activities per week. I love the analogy that Dr Nieman, of Appalachian State University, made about how exercise works. "Exercise helps two types of immune cells circulate more freely in the blood, neutralizing pathogens. Even though your immune system returns to normal within a few hours, the effect of exercise is cumulative. The process is like a cleaner who comes in for an hour a day, so by the end of a month, your house looks much better." So try reducing your cost for over the counter cold and flu aids and boost your immunity with a good session of sweat on a regular basis. Exercise is preventative care like a vaccine. We often only focus on weight loss at this time of year. But, why not exercise for immunity! To learn more about the federal government issued exercise guidelines, go to: http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/. To read the article in the Wall Street Journal, go to : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704350304574638331243027174.html?mod=wsj_share_facebook#articleTabs%3Darticle. To find out more about how exercise is medicine, go to: www.exerciseismedicine.org.
By: Chris Freytag Chris Freytag offers healthy lifestyle tips every week on the KARE 11 Sunrise Motivation Monday segment at 6:20 a.m. Chris has been educating and teaching fitness and nutrition for over 17 years. She is the author of 2 books, produced Fitness DVDs and sits on the Board of Directors for the American Council on Exercise. (Copyright 2010 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
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