Your Health

By Shirley Learthart

HEAD TO TOE HEALTH!

Exercise is essential for optimum health. Every square inch of our body and every body system benefits from exercise.

HEAD: Psychological;  endorphins are produced which act as a natural painkiller and give us a “feel good” effect. Sleep is enhanced and depression is improved.

Heart:  The heart is a muscle and, like all muscles, if it isn’t exercised well it becomes weak and floppy, causing problems. Resting pulse rate decreases with exercise.

Lungs:  Lung volume and airways are improved by exercise. Asthma can be improved significantly.

Cholesterol:  Exercise can reduce “bad” cholesterol levels far more significantly than low fat diets, it also increases the “good” cholesterol.

Digestion:  Problems including constipation are improved by exercise.

Blood pressure:  Rigidity of the blood vessels can cause hypertension, exercise keeps the blood vessels flexible.

Immune system:  It’s kept at it’s optimum with exercise.

Metabolic rate:  This is not only increased during exercise but for hours afterwards, so we can be asleep at night and still be burning calories faster.

Muscles and ligaments:  Kept strong by exercise therefore reducing risk of back and knee problems.

TOE: Bone density  Reduced risk of osteoporosis, keeping all the bones strong from your skull to your little toes.

So it seems our bodies are crying out for exercise in our 21st century culture as much as they were in the 18th century, when Joseph Addison wrote in The Spectator, July 12, 1711: Exercise ferments the humors, casts them into their proper channels, throws off redundancies, and helps nature in those secret distributions, without which the body cannot subsist in its vigor, nor the soul act with cheerfulness.  ( Joseph Addison, 1672-1719)

Shirley

For more preventative health information,
you can visit my website at:
www.vitalsigns-health.co.uk