Extra Perks

by WiredBerries Editors — March 28, 2008

You know you should exercise because it's good for you and it helps you stay healthy, but sometimes that's not enough motivation to slip on those running shoes. For those days, glance at Consumer Reports' list of extra health perks that reward you for sweatin' it out:

• Keep you young -- Workouts boost the amount of oxygen consumed during exercise. Improving your aerobic capacity by just 15 to 25 percent would be like shaving 10 to 20 years off your age. Aerobic exercise may also stimulate the growth of new brain cells in older adults.
• Reduce infections -- Moderate workouts temporarily rev the immune system by increasing the aggressiveness or capacity of immune cells. That may explain why people who exercise catch fewer colds.
• Prevent heart attacks -- Not only does exercise raise "good" HDL cholesterol and lower blood pressure, but new research shows it reduces arterial inflammation, another risk factor for heart attacks and strokes.
• Ease asthma -- Upper-body and breathing exercises can reduce the need to use an inhaler in mild cases of asthma, new evidence shows.
• Control blood sugar -- Exercise helps maintain a healthy blood-sugar level by increasing the cells' sensitivity to insulin and by controlling weight.
• Protect against cancer -- Exercise may reduce colon-cancer risk by speeding wastes through the gut and lowering the insulin level. And it may protect against breast and prostate cancer by regulating hormone levels.
• Combat stress -- Regular aerobic exercise lowers levels of stress hormones. For many people, exercise helps relieve depression as effectively as antidepressant medication.
• Prolong life -- Studies lasting many years have consistently shown that being active cuts the risk of premature death by about 50 percent for men and women.