Walking for Health

Continued from page 2 every day to see health benefits. Participants (average age 50) wore a movement tracker for a week. Over a 10-year follow-up, 439 of the participants died, 148 from cardiovascular disease. People who never walked 8,000 or more steps a day were more likely to die of any cause than those who reached the 8,000-step goal. Even meeting the goal one or two days a week was enough to make a significant difference.

If you can’t hit 8,000, try 4,000. A study published in JAMA in March 2020 that included 4,840 Americans ages 40 and older found that the more steps people took, the lower their risk was of dying over the following 10 years, regardless of age, sex or race.

The bottom line? Make it a goal to walk. Daily is best; 10,000 steps is best. But any amount of walking is helpful.

Q and A

Q: Are all calories the same?

A: Scientifically, a calorie is a unit of energy, and since all calories provide the same amount of energy, calories are equal. However, when it comes to the effects of different calories on our health, calories are not equal. It’s true you can consume 100 calories from orange slice candy or from an orange, but the orange gives your body vitamins, minerals, fiber and other compounds to support health.

The candy simply gives you sugar, along with artificial coloring and flavoring. Researchers have seen with the same calories, different foods have different effects on our body -- microbiome health, muscle gain or loss, even energy expenditure. It’s best to get calories from whole or minimally processed foods.

Charlyn Fargo is a registered dietitian with SIU Med School in Springfield, Illinois, and the current president of the Illinois Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. For comments or questions, contact her at charfarg@aol.com or follow her on Twitter @NutritionRD.

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