Assuming that none of our readers developed superpowers to defy gravity and fly, here’s something that we all do while heading outdoors: walking. This simple act can be a lot more beneficial for our health than we would have ever guessed, as a new study suggests.
ScienceAlert.com tells us the possible amazing benefits that brisk walking can have for our health: it could even slow down the process of biological aging! How great is that?
You could “be” 16 years younger
The biological age represents how worn out the cells of the body are. Researchers believe that a person engaging in brisk walking for the most part of life could trigger a ‘rejuvenation’ of 16 years.
The researchers used the health records of more than 400,000 people from the UK Biobank database. After genetic analysis, it was found that a causal connection between brisk walking and leucocyte telomere length (LTL) might exist. LTL represents a biomarker that can tell the rate of our bodies getting older.
Tom Yates, who’s a kinesiologist at the University of Leicester (UK), explains as ScienceAlert.com quotes:
Whilst we have previously shown that walking pace is a very strong predictor of health status, we have not been able to confirm that adopting a brisk walking pace actually causes better health,
In this study, we used information contained in people’s genetic profile to show that a faster walking pace is indeed likely to lead to a younger biological age as measured by telomeres.
Before the new study, it was well known by scientists that brisk walking has plenty of benefits for the human body. It can help lose fat, maintain a healthy weight, prevent or manage certain conditions such as stroke, heart disease, and more.
The new research was published in Communications Biology.