Fair Trade? 1 Hour Of Running For 7 Hours Of Life!

Looks like it’s going to be a nice weekend.  How about going out into the fresh air and sunshine and adding an extra day to your lifespan?  Sore knees, hips and feet notwithstanding, a little running will do a body good.

New research shows every hour you run extends your life span by seven hours.   That’s an additional 7 and a half days of living for every marathon you run!

Iowa State University researchers took a look at the numbers from a bunch of previous studies. They found that you don’t need to by Jim Ryan or some cat from Kenya  to reap the rewards.  Studies show that at whatever pace or mileage, a person's risk of premature death dropped by 40 percent when he or she took up running. This applied even when researchers controlled for smoking, drinking, or a history of health problems such as obesity.

If you can't bring yourself to run, and many of us can’t, walking and cycling dropped the risk of premature death too, just not as much at about about 12 percent.

Despite the research on the research, experts are still not clear why running helps with longevity, but they surmise it's likely because running can reduce high blood pressure and burn extra body fat, which are both risk factors for early death. (Daily Mail)