Sometimes it sounds that if you exercise enough that you won’t get any diseases and will be skinny. How helpful is exercise really?

There was an interesting article in the NYT that discusses exercise and whether, when and how it is helpful.

One of the problems of studying exercise is that those who tend to regularly exercise often have different habits from those who do not exercise. Additionally, when a person who has been doing no exercise decides to take up exercise they are likely to alter other things like smoking less, or eating more fruit and vegetable. This makes it very hard to study just the effects of exercise alone.

There is no doubt for overweight people, that when compared to those that do not exercise, those that do exercise have a lower risk of diabetes. Exercise has been shown to help control blood sugar in those whose blood sugar is starting to rise (prediabetic). It has also been shown to have positive effects on blood pressure, for those with high blood pressure.

One benefit that seems to be universally agreed upon is the benefit of exercise for the elderly. This is a case of keeping strength and mobility. This reduces the likelihood of falling and keeping active helps with general well being including less depression.

The benefit of exercising on losing weight, has been known for a while, to be quite small. Those that exercise only lose weight slightly faster than those who do not exercise. The benefit of exercising (or is it lifestyle changes?) is seen more for weight maintenance. Those who exercise are more likely to keep the weight off.

Why is exercise not of greater value to weight loss? The answer is that most people do not do enough exercise to burn that many calories. Most people burn less than 100 calories per mile.

The benefits on other diseases is much less clear. Even the effects of exercise on heart disease are open to argument. The effects on various cancers that have been studied is even more controversial.

This has led to some thinking that moderate exercise is good for you, but is not going to fix as much as is often indicated. It is just part of a healthy lifestyle.

For why exercise is important for slowing aging see How helpful is exercise? Part 2.

photo credit: akunamatata

[tags]exercise, health, helpful, benefit[/tags]