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Being active is in our genes going back to prehistoric man who hunted for his food and who definitely did not use modern transportation to go on the hunt (he definitely didn't use a remote control, computer at work or a phone or car for food delivery!). These days only 30% of us engage in regular leisure time physical activity and unfortunately, about 40% of us do not engage in any leisure time physical activity (computer time does not count!). According to the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research, the evidence supports that we humans have evolved and adapted to be physically active throughout life. Okay, how does exercise reduce our risk for disease? Exercise Will Strengthen our cardiovascular system including our heart (our heart is a muscle). This is the most well known benefit to most of us. It will help to maintain the elasticity of our blood vessels helping to lower blood pressure; it will give us a stronger heart muscle that will pump more blood with each beat, hence exercise will lower our heart rate and the heart's workload. Exercise utilizes fatty acids which raise our HDL levels (that's the good cholesterol found in our blood) and it will increase our circulation and delivery of oxygen to our body and brain (this enhances our musculoskeletal system's daily functioning, not to mention lowering our cardiovascular disease risk). Physical activity is considered so important that a sedentary lifestyle is now considered an independent risk factor for heart disease. Aid mild depression for several reasons including via improved circulation and delivery of nutrients to our brain cells! While we can anticipate more findings soon on exercise's role in preventing cognitive decline as we age, I found one evidence -based study that concluded that regular exercise increases neurogenesis (this means the making of new neurons!) in an area of the brain responsible for learning in adults!! Improve the motility of our gastrointestinal tract, aiding our digestion and elimination; reducing the risk for gastrointestinal diseases such as diverticulitis, and certain GI cancers particularly colon. Strong evidence has been found in an analysis of the latest global research that physical activity protects against cancers of the colon, and also of the breast occurring postmenopausal (breast cancer rates rise postmenopausal), and endometruim cancers. Aid our weight management efforts for the long haul (isn't it important to keep the pounds off after we lose them?) reducing our risk for obesity related diseases. This includes lowering our risk of diabetes. It will help us to utilize all those sugars we eat (the ones we're trying to avoid?) if we have been diagnosed with prediabetic conditions and help to prevent them even if we are overweight. Strengthen our immune system by increasing the production of immune cells. Research shows that regular moderate intensity exercise increases the proliferation of immune system cells decreasing the incidence of colds. One study conducted on rats with tumors (yes, rats as a starting point since it's easier to control their environment and all factors!) showed that exercise increased their survival over sedentary rats. These are just a few of the disease fighting benefits of physical activity and exercise. And, as we can see, a regular exercise program can not only help us to prevent disease, but it can also give us a head start to fight disease by our having a healthier and stronger body state as a baseline. Here's to Reducing Our Risk with Exercise! June M Lay M.S. www.Junefit.com Junefit ranks 3nd at Google for "fitness tips" search out of millions of results! Junefit is included in Google's top ranked women's health resources http://directory.google.com/Top/Health/Women's_Health/Resources/ June is Lifestyle Columnist at www.healthnewsdigest.com/ Check out a great site www.americantowns.com A source for local community events, news, real estate, restaurants and more (and where you'll find my tips under community health, of course!). Sources: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics, Health, United States, 2007 Table 73 Andrea K. Olson, Brennan D. Eadie, Carl Ernst, Brian R. Christie, Environmental enrichment and voluntary exercise massively increase neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus via dissociable pathways; Hippocampus, Volume 16, Issue 3, Date: 2006, Bacuau, Belmonte, et., Al., Effect of a moderate intensity exercise training protocol on the metabolism of macrophages and lymphocytes of tumour-bearing rats, SO: Cell Biochemistry and Function. c) Junefit, 2008 all rights reserved www.HealthNewsDigest.com Top of Page 
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