Grow a Younger BodyYou can increase your longevity by growing a younger body and it is not science fiction or anything exotic. A younger body is simply one that has regenerated its cells more recently. The key to developing and/or maintaining a young body is to encourage it to be in a constant state of regeneration. When given a reason, the body regenerates itself. The best reason is caused by regular exercise or physical activity. After all, exercise is nothing more than breaking down body tissue. Once cells are broken down through exercise or physical activity, the body must grow new cells to replace them. This is an ongoing process. Regeneration rate is proportional to the level of activity. A primary caveat is that the body has the dietary resources to support it.
Conversely, poor nutrition can convert the beneficial stress that exercise provides into harmful stress that reduces longevity. Performing strenuous exercise regularly without eating a nutrient-rich diet will speed the degeneration of cells and the aging process. Immediately following a hard workout, the body will try to rebuild broken down tissue. It is at this time that premium nutrition is of greatest importance. These ideas come from the book Thrive.
Exercise increases the activity level of the pituitary gland which is an endocrine (hormone) gland in the brain. Soon after you begin exercising, the pituitary gland releases a growth hormone that contributes to the generation of body tissue throughout the body. A fascinating fact is that it has been shown that people who exercise only one set of muscles experience growth throughout the whole body including muscles that they did not exercise. We attribute this solely to the release of growth hormone.
The frequency with which you exercise could be as important as the intensity. According to David Agus, MD, a leading cancer doctor and author of the best seller The End of Illness, if you exercise in the gym for an hour and then sit for five hours a day, it is the equivalent to smoking more than a pack of cigarettes a day. This is because the lymphatic system, which is responsible for removing toxins and cancer cells from the body, does not have muscles of its own. The lymphatic system is dependent on the rhythmic muscle contractions that happen when you move your body. Walking is very effective. If you work in an office job, make an effort to get up and walk around for about five minutes every 45 minutes. Make some of those trips to the drinking fountain.
According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, one of the main reasons that people don’t exercise enough is that they think they need an hour or two of vigorous workouts in order to get the health benefits of exercise. Since they can’t find the time or motivation to do this, they do nothing. Fortunately, this is completely false. The reality is that even modest physical activity can greatly increase your longevity. Numerous reputable studies found that just twenty minutes of walking a day can have significant positive effects on longevity. For example, it was found to reduce the chances of breast or prostate cancer by 20 to 44 percent.
Tip: Consider using an iPhone or Android app to help you increase your level of physical activity.
Exercise has positive effects on the entire body. It doesn’t just give your muscles more strength and energy, it makes your whole body younger and gives your organs more energy. It has longevity benefits like sweat production which is one way that the body excretes toxins. There is scientific research that proves the positive effects of physical activity on various health conditions including heart and arterial aging, immune system aging, cancer, weight management, diabetes, bone density, depression, long-term memory and even sleep disorders. Although we think of exercise and sports as the realm of the young, the older you are the more you tend to benefit from physical activity. People who start doing even moderate physical activity in midlife age more slowly.
Leave a Reply