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 countryside are at their most delightfully fragrant and musical.
I’ve been spending as many evenings as possible listening for nightingales and watching the fox cubs frolicking on the edges of my wood, then leaping up at daybreak to catch the dawn chorus. Frankly, I can’t imagine a better way to age well.
Luckily, a few studies have dropped into my in-box suggesting my hunch might be on the money. We know that an after-dinner walk is an ideal way to spend an evening (see the chapters in my books, 52 Ways to Walk and Sleepless for more information – available in all good libraries!) but a new piece of research has dramatically added to the growing weight of evidence and as May is such a charming month to night-walk, this might be the perfect time to start.
This study involved data taken from 30,000 Brits over the age of 40, all of whom were considered over weight, while 3,000 also had Type 2 Diabetes. Each participant wore a tracker which monitored their activity during the morning, afternoon and evening, over an eight-year period. At the end of the study, the researchers found that people who did most of their moderate or vigorous movement between 6pm and midnight had the lowest risk of premature death and the lowest risk of dying from heart disease. Indeed, their risk was 40% lower than the risk for afternoon movers and 33% lower than the risk for morning movers. Although any time of day was, of course, better than nothing. So, yes, for diabetics and overweight/obese people, evening movement was more beneficial than morning or afternoon movement.
How so? I got in touch with Dr. Angelo Sabag, the lead researcher, who explained that ‘our body is most insulin resistant at night and for those who cannot produce more insulin to compensate… undertaking physical activity at this time may be offsetting some of the natural night-time insulin resistance.’ But Sabag also referenced findings from a recent clinical study that showed moving later in the day led to greater improvements in blood pressure. High blood pressure is, of course, a risk factor for early death and cardiovascular disease.
Evening movement doesn’t need to mean walking. Sabag points out that cleaning, mowing the lawn, lifting and carrying, or going up and down the stairs, had the same effect. The key, he says, is that the activity must be at least three minutes in duration and done in the evening (either before or after eating), ideally several times. And ideally throughout the day as well. I think an evening walk – whether that’s to watch fox cubs, hear a nightingale, or merely to enjoy the perfumed night air, sounds infinitely more appealing than hoovering the house, but each to their own. Sabag agrees, adding that ‘going for a walk after dinner is a nice way to connect with friends and family and use some of the carbohydrates we just consumed!’
Incidentally, Sabag pointed out that the benefits of an evening walk (or activity of some sort) were even greater for those with both obesity and type two diabetes. Please do share this post with anyone you know who might benefit.
I’ve also been digging into a new study on walking and osteoporosis. It’s often been suggested that walking won’t build bone density like running or weight-lifting (although it does a better job of it than swimming or cycling). But a new study suggests otherwise. Here, 25 healthy postmenopausal women were recruited to walk three miles a day either at a fast speed or at an ambling speed. After 15 weeks the fast-walking women (their walks were 40-43 minutes long, four times a week at 3.9 miles/6.3 km per hour) had either preserved or increased the bone mineral density in both legs and whole body, while the slowly ambling women had not.
For all adults, a broken bone or fracture amplifies the risk of dying within the following decade. Even people under the age of 65 doubled their chance of dying after sustaining a fracture. Many of us don’t know we have osteoporosis until we fracture a bone – 180,000 of the fractures that present each year are the result of (often undiagnosed ) osteoporosis. One in two women and one in five men will sustain at least one (often more) fractures during their lifetime. Which is to say that a simple fracture has the capability to kill. So go for a brisk walk, in the evening if you can, and while the evenings are so gorgeously light-filled.
And if you’re worried that staying up late to hear a nightingale or observe now-rare hedgehogs could prevent your brain from washing out those dementia-inducing toxins, we might not need to worry. A new study (on mice, so it will need replicating on humans) suggests that we may have got this idea all wrong. When researchers tracked the brains of sleeping and awake mice, they were surprised to find that more toxins and defunct metabolites were cleared from the brain while the mice were awake and active. The researchers speculate that the ‘brain-cleansing at night’ hypothesis is all wrong – and that a long-term lack of sleep may not clog the brain causing dementia.
Of course, we feel better when we sleep (and it still appears to be important for memory and cognition, although scientists aren’t sure how or why), but we also feel infinitely better when we hear a nightingale or glimpse a hedgehog. Tragically, we – and our offspring – may be the last generation to hear nightingales (or see hedgehogs), so catch them while you can (search online for nightingale walks or musical duets, I went with https://thenestcollective.co.uk/includes/singing-with-nightingales/ .) And, yes, I spotted a fast-moving hedgehog at 1.30am – another thrill of 2024!
If you’re venturing out for a night adventure, can I suggest you take a handful of walnuts? We’ve written about the extraordinary power of walnuts before, but a new study adds to the evidence. In this randomized, controlled trial in older men, a combination of strength and endurance exercise (that’s a bit of weight lifting and distance walking) improved their strength, balance and sleep. But the men who also snacked on 15 grams of walnuts every day also saw greater improvements in their sleep, cognition and – curiously – their sense of balance or rather their ability to stand on one leg with their eyes closed, which we all know is challenging but an excellent marker of our balancing ability. The researchers credit the composition of walnuts which include notable amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids – and appear to have favourable effects when combined with strength and endurance training.
And finally, I’ve opened the bag of creatine supplements I purchased a few months back after investigating creatine (a substance found in muscle), which I wrote about here. A blog reader kindly wrote in with some words of concern about creatine. I held off the supplements, awaiting more data. Since then, there’s been plenty, but I liked this meta study ( a study of studies) which has been rigorously scrutinised by the guys at Examine.com. This study of 1,076 adults aged 44 – 72 found that creatine supplementation improved their muscle strength, including their handgrip strength and their sit-to-stand ability (both very important markers of strong and healthy ageing). Some studies considered creatine in isolation and some looked at creatine combined with exercise. The latter produced the best results. The researchers concluded that ‘Creatine supplementation improves sit-to-stand performance, muscle function, and lean tissue mass.’ Participants took anywhere between 3–20 grams per day. This seems quite high. I’m taking 1.2 g a day and I’ll let you know if it has any effect. Always check with your doctor before taking any supplements you’re unfamiliar with, particularly if you’re on medication.
So there you have it. Enjoy a few walnuts with your supper, then take a glorious evening walk with at least 3 minutes at a moderate pace (repeated a few times, ideally) or 40 minutes at a respectable speed if you want to strengthen your bones. Add in some weights and perhaps a creatine supplement to keep both muscles and bones in good shape. The nightingales, hedgehogs or strolling urban pooches will add the incomparable rest – joie de vivre, exhilaration and sheer delight in being alive-during-May.
I’ve got talks on the night, sleep and creativity coming up in Crickhowell, Wales on 5th June, and at the Edinburgh Festival on Saturday 17 August (ticket link in next blog post). I’ve also got walking masterclasses in Crickhowell, Wales on 6th June (morning) and at Pau’s in Cambridge on 20th June (evening), which will include a barefoot trail.
Do come and say hello if you’re nearby. I always love meeting our Agewell community!
Annabel
PS Thank you to my son who took this fox cub picture. I know foxes aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but I have great respect for them and the cubs are truly adorable!
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