How many times have you heard someone say that you should exercise because it’s good for you?
Chances are that the number of times you have heard this is pretty high. The reason that people say it over and over again is because it’s true. However, the problem is that most people repeat the phrase, without really thinking about why they’re saying it. They know exercise is good for you, but they don’t really know why.
We’re going to talk about that right now.
One of the best things that exercise does for you is that it has an anti-aging effect on your cells. This isn’t just something someone said. It’s actually been proven.
Everyone has DNA strands in their body. This DNA is damaged every day through the natural process of being alive. This DNA is also reproduced each day. When you are a kid, the damage that is done each day is repaired before the DNA is reproduced. As you get older your body isn’t able to get all of the damage that is done repaired. This results in your new DNA being damaged as soon as it is produced.
Exercise can stop this from happening.
Your DNA is a long strand of cells that is capped by telomeres at both ends. The problem is that as you age, these telomeres begin to shorten. As they shorten, they lose the ability to protect your DNA. This leads to cellulas damage that is the result of your cells not being able to reproduce healthy cells.
The result of these damaged cells being reproduced leads to cellular dysfunction and all aspects of aging.
In one study that was completed at the University of Colorado, they studied exactly how exercise is beneficial to you. They reviewed the effects of aerobic exercise on aging. They looked at the length of the telomere for 27 adults who took part in aerobic exercise on a regular basis. They compared those results to 30 people in the same age group who did not take part in aerobic exercise.
The length of the telomeres for the older people who exercised was much longer than those who did not exercise. They also found that the length of the telomeres for older people who did exercise was about the same as for the younger people who did not exercise.
The conclusion that was reached by the researchers was that any kind of regular aerobic exercise helped to preserve the length of the telomere. This, in turn, provided an anti-aging boost.
In short, exercise keeps you young!
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