Modern science tends to give more and more evidence to Hippocrates' affirmation of the benefits of walking, once again demonstrating the wisdom and soundness of the recommendations of the father of medicine. According to a study by the University of Cambridge, walking for only 20 minutes daily reduces the risk of premature death by one-third. In addition, walking reduces stress, sadness, and has the power to help the brain regenerate.
The origin of diseases
# A way of life inducing chronic inflammation
One of the great calamities of the modern Western world is undoubtedly its own way of life. The latter certainly gives rise to an incalculable number of disease disorders whose common point is that they come from a generalized congestion of the body and a state of chronic inflammation.
# Chronic inflammation associated with "a broad spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases"
Inflammation is characterized by a state of hypoxia in the cells and the entire body. When the body contains too much waste and is unable to eliminate it, it accumulates and stagnates in the interstitial spaces, smothering the cells, assaulting them and causing widespread inflammation. The cells then bathe in the waste and do not receive enough oxygen and nutrients. Their functioning is hindered and it happens that they degenerate.
Walking regenerates the brain
However, walking as a physical activity improves the circulation of interstitial fluid (lymph and glyph) and promotes the evacuation of the waste it carries.
On the other hand, practicing physical activity activates blood circulation and oxygenation. The cells are better supplied with blood and benefit from the oxygen and nutrients it carries.
According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois in the United States, after previously sedentary people had walked for one year at a frequency of three 40-minute sessions a week, discovered the creation of new neural connections in their brains.
In addition, a study from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, showed that regular aerobic exercise such as walking had led to an increase in hippocampus size among participants. The hippocampus is the brain region involved in learning, memory and spatial representation, and is one of the first areas of the brain affected by neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
Walking reduces feelings of sadness and depression
For Julie Garden-Robinson, Food and Nutrition Specialist at North Dakota State University, "Practicing moderate exercise such as walking can improve our mood while strengthening our heart and reducing our risk. to have diabetes, cancer and many other health problems. "
A Stanford University study also reveals that walking for one hour in a natural space has significantly reduced the activity of a certain area associated with depression and recurrent negative thoughts in the participants' brains.
Walking soothes stress
A study by Duke University in the United States also allowed researchers to conclude that physical exercise could eventually reduce anxiety as well as its symptoms.
The path to better brain health
- A good diet
- To enable your brain to function in the best possible way, or even to improve your cognitive abilities, a diet that does not cause inflammation in your body is an essential step.
Thus, the foods that cause inflammation in the body are:
- Trans fat (fries, margarine, chips, biscuits, cakes and industrial pastries ...)
- refined carbohydrates (refined cereals, sweetened sugar, glucose-fructose syrup ...)
-Red meat and processed meat
- Alcohol and tobacco
As for anti-inflammatory foods, they are as follows:
- Fruits and especially red fruits
- Vegetables
- Fat fish
- Nuts
- Extra virgin olive oil
A good sleep
To have a healthy brain, it is essential to get enough sleep, because it is during sleep that the brain cleans itself: the circulation of the glymphatic system (the interstitial fluid of the brain whose function is the elimination of waste) s 'active indeed when we sleep.
By having a good sleep, we therefore promote the evacuation of waste and toxins present in our brain and allow it to operate at maximum capacity.
