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HEART DISEASE Brisk walking is known to be good for the heart, which makes a lot of sense. The heart is a muscle, after all, and anything that makes the blood flow faster through a muscle helps keep it in shape. But regular walking benefits the heart in other ways as well. It lowers blood pressure, which helps decrease the stress on the arteries. It can boost the amount of HDL cholesterol (the good one) in the blood. It even seems to make the blood less "sticky" and therefore less likely to produce unwanted clots. It all adds up to as much as a 50% reduction in the risk of suffering a heart attack.
STROKE Until recently, the effect of walking on the risk of stroke was unclear. Some studies showed that folks who are active are less likely to suffer strokes--particularly those strokes that are caused when a clot blocks the flow of blood to the brain. Other studies showed no benefit at all. Then just over a year and a half ago, one of the largest studies to address the issue tipped the balance in walking's favor. In an analysis of the health habits of 70,000 nurses over the past 15 years, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that those who walked the most--20 or more hours per week--decreased by 40% their risk of suffering strokes caused by a clot.
WEIGHT CONTROL The older you get, the harder it is to maintain your weight simply by restricting what you eat. Walking briskly for at least half an hour not only consumes a couple of hundred calories, but it also boosts your metabolic rate for the rest of the day, giving you a better chance of winning the battle of the bulge.
WEIGHT LOSS Walking is a great way to lose body fat, though most people find they have to do it for at least an hour a day in order to lose weight. The body doesn't really start burning its fat stores until after 30 minutes of activity. Exercising too intensely can actually work against you by interfering with the body's ability to pull energy from fat cells. You are more likely to maintain any weight loss you achieve if you incorporate walking into your daily routine.
DIABETES Two studies last year provided strong evidence that brisk walking 30 minutes a day can postpone and possibly even prevent the development of Type 2 diabetes in people who are overweight and whose bodies have already started having trouble metabolizing glucose. Indeed, one of those studies, sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, had to be cut short because the exercise program was nearly twice as effective as the prescription drug metformin in the prevention of diabetes. In both studies, the best results were felt by subjects who lost 5% of their starting weight. But the second study, conducted in Finland, showed that walking had at least some positive effect even in those folks who did not lose weight.
OSTEOPOROSIS Walking not only strengthens the muscles but builds up the bones to which they are attached. Studies show that women who exercised regularly in their 20s and had a healthy intake of calcium decreased their risk of developing osteoporosis in their 70s more than 30%.