Sunday, October 28, 2007

Exercise complementing anti-ageing nutrition

Inclusion of anti-oxidant rich food in the daily diet is vitally important for the anti-ageing process. But if a person is a couch potato he will not get the optimum benefits. Exercise is necessary to create a demand for healthy nutrients to be absorbed and assimilated into the tissues and cells.

Regular exercise of 30 minutes a day or for an hour three times per week is adequate to ensure lasting health benefits. Exercise should be aerobic and of moderate intensity like brisk walking or swimming, including using light weights. It is not necessary to be strenuous, which is for conditioning the body for some purposes like competitive sports.

To motivate yourself, think of the benefits of exercise to your mental and physical wellbeing. And these are:

1) Exercise improves cardio-pulmonary effort. During exercise the deep breathing results in getting more oxygen into the blood circulation. The heart beats stronger and more effectively. The smaller arteries dilate to supply more blood to the heart and muscle tissues. The heart muscle becomes stronger and the heart arteries (coronary arteries) becomes more efficient. This is important to prevent heart diseases.

2) Exercise reduces excess body weight i.e. prevents and reduces obesity. The improved muscle mass in turn burn up more calories

3) Exercise tone and improves muscles and tendons and promotes flexibility, coordination and balance. It reduces falls and also prevents osteoporosis of the elderly.

4) During moderate intensity exercise, the brain produces a good chemical called endorphin. This endorphin enhances our mood with a feeling of wellbeing, reduces depression, neutralises stress and relieves bodyaches.

5) A relaxed, de-stressed mind and body after exercise, promotes better, deeper sleep.The body temperature, heart beats and metabolic rate become lower, 3 to 4 hours after exercise.

6) Exercise rejuvenates the body and mind and enable the body cells to assimilate and metabolise the healthy nutrients better and regenerates healthier cells. This prevents premature aging and chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, heart diseases, osteoarthritis, cancer.

These are some of the benefits of regular moderate exercise. Together with the anti-ageing nutrition program, it is worth incorporating into our daily life.

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