WALK TO WELLNESS

You'll feel the benefits of walking from your head down to your toes

THE DOCTOR'S KITCHEN

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Fitness is often so focused on going faster, getting stronger and pushing yourself harder, but what if the best thing you can do for your body is to slow down? Walking is a form of exercise often relegated to those over 80, but evidence shows that even the young and healthy will feel the benefits of going for a brief stroll. Walking is the most studied form of exercise and an overwhelming amount of research demonstrates its positive impact on everything from heart health to how stressed we are and how well we sleep at night.

Health experts agree that frequent walking is instrumental in preventing and managing a variety of common health conditions including heart disease, stroke and type II diabetes. It has been shown by multiple studies to lower your risk of premature death and strengthen your immune system, one even finding that walkers took 43% fewer sick days on average. Walking has the lowest injury rate of all forms of exercise, which makes it a safe and sustainable way to improve and maintain mobility while protecting the joints that are most susceptible to osteoarthritis. Going for a walk to clear your head is a well- trodden path, but research backs the mood-boosting power of a brisk stroll. It is e ective in the management of stress, anxiety and depression and there is evidence that going on regular walks even changes the structure of your brain and helps increase the volume of grey matter, which is a measure of brain health. It may even make you smarter, as several trials have found that walking can improve your memory and cognitive function, both short-term and long-term. All of these benefits only increase as your pace and distance do, so even if you are already healthy, walking may be the secret to staying that way.