In a recent piece by New York Times health writer Gretchen Reynolds, she mentioned a very startling discovery that may get many people exercising. According to her report, Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky, a professor of pediatrics at McMaster University, discovered in an experiment that exercise kept a strain of mice from becoming gray prematurely. However, that wasn’t the miraculous part. These mice were actually genetically programmed to grow old at an accelerated pace, so the odds were actually against the mice. But exercise seemed to work miracles in reducing or eliminating almost every detrimental effect of aging. Just imagine what this research could mean for humans and exercise!
As a result of the experiment, we have no doubt that people will begin to take exercise much more seriously. After all, we already know that exercise can improve cardiovascular health, boost immunity, lend more energy, and help in weight control. Studies of older humans have also shown that weightlifting can improve health at the cellular level. However, the fact that exercise can actually REDUCE the detrimental effects of aging is pretty amazing. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see what happens with future studies, but this is definitely good news for those who incorporate exercise into a healthy lifestyle plan.
If you haven’t started exercising regularly, now is the time for doing it. This study is just sampling of the benefits exercise and a healthy diet has to offer anyone.
