Help Your Mind and Your Body

It's well known that a simple exercise like walking can be good for your body, even if undertaken only thirty minutes a day. Well, now according to a new study published in Neurology and cited in the time article, "Study: Walking Is a Brain Exercise Too", walking can help strengthen your brain and prevent Alzheimers and dementia in old age. This study studied nearly 300 men and women with an average age of seventy eight, who walked between zero blocks and 300 blocks (around thirty miles) a week.

After studying the subjects for nine years, they all had brain scans. Those who walked, it was found, had a greater brain mass than those who didn't. Brain mass is apparently key in issues of Alzheimer's, dementia and memory loss. Over one hundred people showed signs of memory loss, but those who walked the most -- about seven miles a week -- were half as likely to develop these cognitive problems as those people who walked the least.

This study coincides with previous studies that showed physical exercise connected to improved brain function. This gives us one more positive reason to exercise, even if it is just a bit of walking every day. You'll be improving your body as well as your brain, and who doesn't want that?