Do You Want to Live 16 Years Longer? New Study Says Commit to a Lifetime of Brisk Walking

In a new study, researchers found that a brisk walk could make a person live longer adding more years to his life.

Specifically, a report from the Study Finds website indicated that a brisk walk could help "add 16 years to an individual's life." The University of Leicester researchers found a link between the walking pace of a person "and the rate at which they age.

A lifetime of brisk walking, in particular, results in longer telomeres. These, specifically are the protective caps on the ends of one's chromosomes, similar to the plastic tabs on shoelaces. Although they do not carry genetic information, telomeres are playing an important role in making DNA remain stable.

Faster Walk Leads One to Become 16 Years Younger

Researchers gauge these end caps to compute the biological age of a person. The longer they are, the younger an individual is, in terms of his biological age, which can be quite different from his birthday or chronological age.

In an evaluation of more than 400,000 adults from the United Kingdom Biobank, researchers discovered that a faster walking pace in one's entire life could result in him being 16 years younger in terms of biological age by the time he reaches midlife.

Essentially, the research team discovered that brisk walking alone, regardless of the amount of physical activity that an individual engages in, results in longer telomeres.

Faster Walking for Disease Prevention

Scientists explained that every time a cell splits, telomeres become shorter. At some point, telomeres are getting quite short that the cell is no longer dividing.

Even though the association between the length of telomeres and disease remains unclear, the researchers said the buildup of senescent or the elderly and dying cells adds to the development of frailty and age-related diseases.

Past studies have shown how walking can offer physical, social, and mental benefits. Nonetheless, the researchers said, this is the first time scientists have compared "walking speed with genetic data tied to longevity."

In a University of Leicester release, Dr. Paddy Dempsey, lead author of the study said previous research on the links between walking pace, telomere length, and physical activity has been limited by inconsistent findings, as well as the absence of high-quality data.

Walking Speed and Telomere Length

Dempsey explained, that their study, published in the journal, Communications Biology, uses genetic data to offer stronger evidence for a causal connection between faster walking pace and longer length of telomeres.

Data from the so-called "wrist-worn wearable activity tracking devices" to measure habitual physical activity backed a stronger role of habitual activity intensity as well, like faster walking for one, in association with telomere length, the research fellow and lecturer at the university continued.

This then suggests measures like a habitually slower walking speed are a simple way of identifying people at greater risk of unhealthy aging and chronic disease, and that particular activity intensity may play a vital role in optimizing interventions.

For instance, on top of increasing overall walking, people who are able could target to increase the number of steps to complete in a given time, for instance, by walking faster on their way to the bus stop. Nevertheless, this necessitates further investigation.

Related information about fast walking that slows aging is shown on The Study Finds Guy's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on Exercise and Aging in Science Times.