TV is fabulous. Not only does it give you a headache, but you also find out straight away from the advertisements which pills help.” This was the sentence the American actress Bette Davis said in the middle of the 20th century makes,” says the Graz molecular biologist and age researcher Slaven Stekovic.
Today, the time that people spend in front of the television and computer has increased many times over. At the same time, more and more people are suffering from problems related to the cardiovascular system, intestines, liver or kidneys. According to Stekovic, the increasing lack of exercise also damages the brain: the number of dementia cases is constantly increasing.
A long life beckons as a reward
“If you don’t want to suffer all this, you don’t have to take dietary supplements or medication,” says the researcher. The path to a long, healthy life is much easier and more enjoyable. As a large number of current studies show, even a daily half-hour walk at a brisk pace has the effect that all organs regenerate. Like the World Health Organization, Stekovic recommends taking 10,000 steps a day to keep the body going. “Anyone who takes fewer than 5,000 steps, on the other hand, is at risk of getting sick – physically and mentally,” warns the geriatric researcher. Movement is the key to getting important biological processes going. A balanced diet with lots of vegetables and healthy fats is ideal.
According to Stekovic, those who stick to it will most likely be rewarded with a long, healthy life. Because it has been proven that life expectancy is only four to seven percent dependent on genes and 93 to 96 percent on lifestyle.
The good news for many who don’t feel a calling to be an athlete is that you don’t have to become a marathon runner or a muscle man to age healthily. In fact, Stekovic believes that moderate exercise, focused on fun rather than performance, makes more sense. “It keeps you motivated to stay active throughout your life, and overwork leads to stress, which in turn has a negative impact on the body.”
Stekovic explains why exercise contributes so much to health: “When the body is activated, whether it’s walking, swimming, cycling, mountaineering or playing basketball, it releases many hormones that have a positive effect on the entire body.” Every organ benefits from:
- lungs and brain: “By standing upright during sports, we breathe more deeply, the respiratory muscles are strengthened and we breathe more efficiently,” says Stekovic. The brain also benefits from this because it can be better supplied with oxygen.
- Heart: According to Stekovic, obesity is one of the greatest risks of heart disease. Sooner or later, everyone affected will have problems with their blood vessels and heart. These ailments encourage people to be physically inactive and exacerbate the problem. The only solution: bring exercise into life in good time and thus avoid vascular and heart problems from the outset!
- the gut is the largest immune organ in the body. “70 to 80 percent of the immune cells are found here, which means it protects us from potential invaders that we ingest through food,” says the scientist. Through physical activity we can stimulate the bacteria in the gut to better protect us from disease. “A study has shown that even light to moderate training leads to the activation of the intestinal bacteria,” says Stekovic.
- Brain: “Sport clears your head and awakens your spirit,” they say. According to Stekovic, the reason for this is that exercise reduces stress hormones in the body. As a result, heartbeat and blood pressure remain in the normal range and blood vessels are not damaged. The brain is sufficiently supplied with blood and oxygen, the veins remain elastic, which in turn protects against dementia. According to studies, light muscle training, Pilates, yoga or regular walks are sufficient.
- Liver: If we put too much strain on our liver – with sugar, alcohol – and also do little exercise, fatty liver develops, which can develop into fatal liver cirrhosis. A recent study showed that eight weeks of exercise or light to moderate exercise is enough to reduce liver fat by 30 percent. “If we combine physical exercise with proper nutrition, fatty liver can be halved in two months,” says Stekovic. Those who maintain this lifestyle can manage to transform a second stage fatty liver into a healthy organ – and thus live longer.
Source: Nachrichten
