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Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.
According to the Journal of American Geriatrics: If an inactive 70-year-old were to begin an exercise programme of 'moderate activity', the result would be a gain of 15 years in his age and if the subject were to achieve the 'athlete' level of conditioning, he could experience a potential improvement of 40 years in his age!
Harvard researchers tracked the workout habits of 17,321 healthy men for over 20 years and found that those who burnt at least 1,500 calories a week in activities such as running, brisk walking, cycling or swimming had a 25 percent lower death rate than men who burnt a meagre 150 calories per week exercising. That's the equivalent of the difference in mortality between non-smokers and men who smoke a pack of cigarettes daily!
Another Harvard study followed the living habits of more than 47,000 men aged 40 to 75 years for six years, and after adjusting for factors like diet and family history found that those who worked out at least thrice a week were significantly less likely to develop colon cancer or polyps (tumorous growth that can be a precursor to cancer) as compared to sedentary men.
Being overweight increases the risk of colon cancer. Obese men have a 50 per cent higher risk of contracting the disease and those who carried extra weight primarily in their abdominal region were 3 ½ times as likely as their leaner subjects. Researchers believe that exercise reduces the risk of colon cancer by lowering insulin levels that tend to be higher in normal weight people who are not physically active. The lower level of insulin promotes bowel activity, which does not allow cancer causing toxins to linger in the body for long.
Exercise reduces the risk of all types of cancer, by significantly boosting our body's internal defense against free radicals. No antioxidant action plan is complete without regular exercise, for the natural endogenous antioxidants (those produced by the human body), such as SOH, GSH and catalase may become too fragile for supplements to have their full effect.
For long, it has been known that exercise reduces blood pressure in the sedentary, helps lessen angina pains, and decreases harmful body fat which would otherwise affect the arteries and the heart. The heart, like any other muscle in the body, gets bigger, stronger and more efficient with exercise and pumps more oxygenated blood to different parts of the body. Not only are nutrients transported throughout the body; the muscles in the body also become more efficient at extracting oxygen from the bloodstream. Circulation improves too, partly because exercise boosts the number of small blood vessels (capillaries) that deliver oxygen to tissues and carry the excess away, including the deadly LDL cholesterol.
Exercise also burns body fat and raises metabolic activity. Most commonly people desirous of burning unwanted calories follow an exercise regime. Exercise helps regulate blood sugar metabolism and therefore may help to ward off the diseases.
Just as exercise strengthens the heart and lungs, bones and muscles, it may also power the brain, leading to faster reflexes, increased alertness and a pervading sense of well-being. Today's Archimedes would find creative inspiration, not in the bath, but on the treadmill. Aerobic exercise increases the amount of certain brain chemicals that stimulate growth of nerve cells. It also triggers the release of several key neurotransmitters, including epinephrine and norepinephrine that are known to boost awareness.
A vigorous workout stimulates the body to pump out the so called stress hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine that prepare your heart, lungs and muscles for 'fight and flight'. By working out regularly, you almost 'train' the body to react less intensely to stress, as a result of that you can cope better with anxiety provoking events.