Exercise for 15 Minutes: Live Longer
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 6:33AM
Here's more evidence that even a little bit of exercise can make a big difference to your health. Researchers in Taiwan followed more than 400,000 people for an average of eight years and found that 15 minutes of exercise daily can boost life expectancy by three years. Compared to inactive individuals, participants who exercised for just under 15 minutes per day were 14 percent less likely to die from any cause during the eight years of the study, and 10 percent less likely to die of cancer. Beyond that, each additional 15 minutes of daily exercise lowered the risk of death - from any cause - by four percent, and the extra physical activity cut the risk of death from cancer by one percent. Earlier this month, a review published online in Circulation showed that people who get 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week reduce their risk of heart disease by 14 percent compared to inactive people and that exercising five hours per week can lower heart disease risk by as much as 20 percent. The new study from Taiwan was published online on August 15 by The Lancet.
Reader Comments (1)
Well this is encouraging news. Surely we could all commit to 15 minutes a day. It's as simple as going for a walk on your lunch break.