It’s May – my favourite month for walking in Great Britain, and (apparently) National Walking Month when school children everywhere are encouraged to walk to school. The bluebell woods are in bloom, wild roses are flowering, birdsong is at its most vocal, the swallows and nightingales have returned. Which is to say, our parks and…
WHY WE SHOULD BE WALKING … BACKWARDS
There’s been lots of good news for walkers recently. A study published last month found that over-60s who walked between 6000 and 9000 steps a day cut their risk of heart disease (including strokes and heart attacks) by 40-50 percent, when compared to a more typical 2000 steps a day. In fact this study found…
NEW YEAR, NEW MUSCLES, NEW ME!
It’s that time of year … for looking forward to a new year and, perhaps, a new becoming. Most of us have something we want to change, amend or improve (health-wise), particularly as we’re not getting any younger. I like to start with a long-range vision and a simple outcome. In fact my resolution each…
HOW WALKING POLES CAN HELP US AGE WELL
It’s nearly May, which is National Walking Month – an initiative started in 2007 by the American Heart Association to encourage more people to … walk! And so this month I’ll be examining some of the latest studies into various aspects of walking. If you’ve read 52 Ways to Walk you’ll know that I went…
WALKING, APPETITE, PURPOSE AND A WEBINAR
It’s a week to the publication of my new book on walking in nature. To celebrate, my next few posts will be on some of the astonishing (and often little-known) benefits of walking. We hope you’ll also join our free book launch webinar – details below. May and June are our favourite months for moving…
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT SELENIUM?
The talk in geroscience circles over the last fortnight has been all about selenium: can selenium supplements give us the longer healthier life we want? The excitement was sparked by an experiment that found mice given selenium supplements had an improved health span (a longer disease-free period at the end of their lives). How does…
MYSTERIOUS REASONS FOR WORKING OUR MUSCLES
A doctor friend recently messaged me to check I was still doing the odd plank or lifting the occasional weight. I confessed that I’d missed a few days in the aftermath of my father’s death. But explained that I’d also felt a strange compulsion to do bicep curls as I grieved. Lifting weights, I added,…
FOLLOW THE DATA: MUST WE? AND AN ESCAPIST GIVEAWAY…
I don’t know about you but I’ve become increasingly disillusioned with science – facts, data, graphs. Funny really, because this blog was predicated on a belief in science. To be honest, my loss of faith began before COVID. I suspect the pandemic merely confirmed what I was beginning to suspect. Of course there are lots…
BRAIN-BUILDING, PREVENTING OSTEOPOROSIS, WHAT CARDIOLOGISTS DO FOR HEART HEALTH… AND THE NEW CANADIAN EATING GUIDELINES
I was at a boxing day party of cardiologists this year, many of whom had come straight from the local hospital where they’d been treating Christmas day heart attacks as well as looking after the usual heart-diseased in-patients. I noticed (glumly) that none of the cardiologists were drinking or snatching at the canapes, so I…
BUILD MUSCLE OVER 50, LIVE LONGER
How are your muscles? If yours are anything like mine, they could do with a little work. Yesterday England’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) weighed in on the state of the nation’s musculature, recommending strengthening exercises twice a week to help us age well. The guidelines advise that we build strength and improve balance to help…
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