Walking at least 4,000 steps each day lowers your chances of passing away early. Even if you take just 2,337 steps a day, it reduces the risk of dying from heart-related issues. However, the more steps you take, the better it is for your health.
Dr. Maciej Banach, who led the study, says that the more steps you take, the healthier it is for you. Increasing your steps by 500-1000 steps a day can lead to important reductions in the risk of passing away. The study considers anything below 5,000 steps a day as a “sedentary lifestyle.”
Dr. Banach explained that for every extra 1000 steps you take each day, there’s a 15% lower chance of passing away for any reason. And for every extra 500 steps, there’s a 7% lower risk of dying from heart problems. Dr. David Katz, who wasn’t part of the study, mentioned that it’s not surprising that fewer steps can still help with heart health.
He said that exercise has a more direct effect on the heart, while its benefits on other parts of the body might be a bit less direct. Dr. Katz is a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine and leads a nonprofit organization called True Health Initiative. They focus on using evidence-based lifestyle approaches to promote health.
The way the study was done was very strong and up-to-date, according to Dr. Katz. It confirms what doctors usually advise their patients. He explained that even a little bit of exercise is better than none and brings good benefits for the heart and overall health. He also emphasized that for most people, doing more activity is even better!
Large analysis of existing studies
This big study, which was released on a Tuesday in a medical journal, looked at information from almost 227,000 individuals in 17 different research projects across countries like Australia, Japan, Norway, Spain, the UK, and the US. Dr. Banach mentioned that as far as they know, this is the biggest analysis of its kind. He also mentioned that, for the very first time, they checked if taking up to 20,000 steps a day had health advantages.
The studies looked at how many steps people took each day and their health outcomes. It’s important to note that these studies could only show a connection, not a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
The research discovered that around 4,000 steps a day led to a noticeable decrease in the risk of early death. The most significant reduction in risk happened when people walked over 7,000 steps daily. The greatest benefits were seen at about 20,000 steps. However, it’s worth mentioning that there wasn’t a lot of data available for step counts up to 20,000 a day, so these results should be confirmed with larger groups of people, according to Dr. Ibadete Bytyçi, one of the lead authors of the study.
The good effects on health were consistent across all countries and for both men and women. Both older (above 60 years old) and younger individuals benefited, but the decrease in risk of death was slightly smaller in older people compared to those below 60 years old, as Dr. Banach pointed out.
Start early and keep it up
For folks aged 60 and above, walking from 6,000 to 10,000 steps a day lowered the risk of early death by 42%. Meanwhile, those under 60 who walked between 7,000 and 13,000 steps a day saw a 49% reduction in risk.
Dr. Banach explains that starting healthy habits early has a bigger impact on factors like cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels, which are linked to diseases. So, the sooner you begin activities like regular exercise or eating well, the better it is for your health and longevity.
If you can’t reach the recommended step counts, don’t worry. Dr. Andrew Freeman, a specialist in cardiovascular health, emphasizes that any exercise is beneficial, and more is usually better. There’s no specific “magic number” of steps that guarantees perfect health. He advises newcomers to keep going, gradually increasing until they get comfortably breathless for about 30 minutes a day.
SOURCE:CNN