I came across a story about Dr. George CulverHe was the first physician appointed by the U.S. Congress to provide medical care in 1928. And did they need it? They were dying at a rate of 20 per year.
Culver preached moderation and healthy living, giving advice that we are accustomed to hearing today. Eat wisely, exercise daily, see your doctor regularly, stop worrying and learn how to relax. His words caught my eye. “If a person dedicates 5% of his time to maintaining health, he does not need to devote 100% of his time to overcome the disease.”
Intrigued by this quote, I started playing around with it and applying it to the modern health crisis. The first question I thought of was, if I could convince people to devote 5% of their time to staying healthy, what would I advise them to do? My first thought was to walk. This is a good choice for most of the problems facing our society, especially obesity. The next question is, how much is 5% of your time? Assuming 16 hours of waking time in a day, that’s a total of 960 minutes, and 5% of that is 48 minutes.
That’s probably asking too much of busy everyday Americans like us. Okay, let’s just make it 3%. This equates to less than 30 minutes of shade each day.
We’re all busy, but it’s hard to imagine not being able to set aside just 3% of your total waking time to improve your health. After all, 97% of your waking hours are left to do other things, all the things that don’t promote your health or can harm it.
What are you saying? There are no 30 minute blocks. no problem. Split into two 15-minute matches or three 10-minute matches. It’s still okay.
After thinking more deeply about Culver’s words, I came up with the following modifications. [unhealthy] you. “
I know it’s a little corny.
How can I reduce my risk of type 2 diabetes?
As Americans continue to battle rising obesity rates, our risks are type 2 diabetes increased accordingly. The latest statistics are National Institutes of Health It shows that 11.3% of the population (37.3 million people) have diabetes. (Note: Type 2 accounts for about 90-95%.) Unfortunately, not everyone has been diagnosed yet, leaving 8.5 million people in society unaware that type 2 diabetes is seriously damaging their health. You don’t realize you’re giving.
These are very frightening statistics, made even more frightening by the fact that they continue to get worse every year. But perhaps the most frightening statistic is that more than one in three adults are prediabetic. This means they are on the path to his type 2 diabetes and it is only a matter of time before that happens and/or they will gain even more body fat by the time they get there.
With these statistics in mind, and knowing that you can reduce your risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes by dedicating just 3% of your time to walking, how can you realistically argue against that? Hopefully, you can Unable to do so, he gives up and starts walking. If so, consider the next steps to make the most of your 3% commitment. Here’s how:
Does walking faster affect your health?
Let’s say you discipline yourself to take a 30-minute walk every day. congratulations. The biggest part of the challenge has been overcome. So why not get the most out of it by simply walking faster?
Recent research is British Journal of Sports Medicine Walking at a moderate speed of 2 to 3 miles per hour was found to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 15%. While this is encouraging and well worth the effort, it pales in comparison to investing the same amount of time walking at a faster speed of up to 4 miles per hour and reducing your risk by 24%. And if you can walk even faster, at least 4 miles per hour, you reduce your risk by a whopping 39%. In summary, they found that “for every 0.6 mph increase in walking speed, the risk of type 2 diabetes decreases by 9%.”
Obviously, walking faster for 30 minutes means covering more distance and burning more calories (kcal). This helps reduce body fat, which is a major risk for type 2 diabetes. But walking faster seems to have additional benefits.
Type 2 diabetes is an extreme form of insulin resistance. In other words, excess body fat interferes with insulin’s role in escorting blood sugar (glucose) into cells. Instead, the cells resist the effects of insulin and glucose builds up in the blood, causing a number of health problems, including damage to blood vessels that contributes to amputations, blindness, heart disease, and more. Walking faster has a big impact on reducing insulin resistance. By increasing the insulin sensitivity of cells.
However, please note that this is an acute effect and, like any medication, must be renewed daily. Therefore, combining the acute effects of brisk walking with the long-term effects of body fat loss leads him to take two major steps in his lifestyle to reduce risk.
As quoted above, if you maximize your 3% time investment by walking briskly, you could reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes by 39%. This is a huge return on investment.
Contact Bryant Stanford, professor of kinesiology and integrative physiology at Hanover College, at [email protected]..
