More about walking

The GREAT benefits of walking:
I know I have talked about walking before but I found even more info on it and thought it was worth passing along.  It really is a very easy and enjoyable way to spend a mere 30 or more minutes a day.  With such positive benefits how could you not give it a try.  This is a little long but well worth reading all the surprising benefits of walking.
Side note: a couple weeks ago I had another first in my life, I actually wore out a pair of athletic shoes!!!  I never thought I would hear myself say that, but I did have to go buy a new pair of shoes to walk in, because the old ones were giving me blisters because they were wearing out in places and rubbing on my feet therefore causing blisters.
If you're looking for the ideal way to comfortably improve your health, walking is the nearly ideal exercise, from burning fat to rekindling romance.
It's more or less automatic, almost anyone can do it well, it takes a minimum amount of special equipment, and it's low impact. There are a wide variety of environments you can walk in even with the entire family, basically walking is low risk, and high reward.
It doesn't even take a whole lot of effort. The Center for Disease Control recommends just 30 minutes or more of moderate intensity physical activity on most and preferably all days of the week. This translates to walking 3-5 miles per hour, which most people can accomplish with relative ease. You would be surprised how far you really can go in 30 min. Walking translates into great health benefits.
Weight control: A half-hour of vigorous walking can burn 180-250 calories. Walking at a slower pace for longer periods of time may actually burn more fat, particularly if the walk is done early in the morning, before breakfast. At this time of day, with no ready caloric source in the digestive system, the body is more likely to tap into existing glycogen stores (body fat) to fuel extended exercise.
Heart attack: Walking more than an hour a week can cut the risk of a first heart attack by 73% as much as high intensity exercise. Three hours of brisk walking a week reduced heart disease by 30-40% in women.
Older men who walked two miles a day had half the risk of heart attack of those who walked only half a mile.
Breast cancer: Seven hours per week of moderate to vigorous exercise such as brisk walking can reduce breast cancer rates by 20%.
Disability: Adult aged 65 and older who demonstrated high levels of physical activity were almost twice as likely to die disability-free, compared with inactive counterparts.
Age-referenced mortality: average age of 69 found that those walking two or more miles a day were 40% less likely to die than those the same age who walked less than a mile.
Age and cognition: Sedentary men and women ages 60-75 who were enrolled in a progressive exercise program which culminated in walking 45 minutes per day, three times a week at a 16-minute per mile pace, improved cognitive abilities significantly.
Osteoporosis: All weight-bearing exercise including walking helps increase strength and bone density. Walking improves circulation, increases the supply of oxygen and lubrication to joints, ligaments are kept pliable and thicken through regular use.
Diabetes: one hour of brisk walking every day can cut a woman risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in half.
Cholesterol: An increase in good cholesterol has been associated with moderate exercise, including walking.
Stroke: Walking more than 20 kilometers a week was associated with significantly lower risk of brain attack.
Glaucoma: Sedentary people who walked 40 minutes three times a week experienced an average of a 9% reduction in interocular eye pressure, other studies found regular exercise lowered pressure by 20% in those at risk for the disease, and by 16% in those with glaucoma.
Depression: Walking decreases incidence of depression through the production of endorphins and the neurotransmitter serotonin.
So put on your shoes and get outside and do a little walking!!!