Health experts suggest that allotting just 25 minutes of the day for walking could have beneficial effects on one's youth and longevity.
In a new study presented at the meeting of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) this weekend, researchers said that engaging in regular exercise could increase a person's average lifespan and reduce ageing.
For the study, researchers from Saarland University in Germany placed men and women between 30 and 60 years old on a staged exercise program. The participants were not regular exercisers but they did not smoke and were considered healthy.
The researchers then tracked the key markers of ageing in the participants' blood and found that in just a period of six month, there were changes in their body that help repair the DNA.
By measuring the increase of telomerase activity and decrease of senescence marker p16m, both of which are markers of cellular ageing in the blood, for a period of six months, the researchers found that regular exercise triggers anti-ageing process.
Experts said that engaging in just 25 minutes of brisk walking or slow jogging daily could add additional years, happiness, and well-being.
Study researcher Sanjay Sharma, from St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in London, said that exercising moderately could reduce risks of death from heart attack by up to 50 percent when one is in his or her 50s and 60's, which can be considered a big deal.
Those who start to exercise at age 70 likewise have reduced risks for atrial fibrillation, a rhythm disturbance affecting about 10 percent of people who are over 80 years old.
Sharma, who described exercise as an antidepressant that can improve cognitive function and retard the onset of dementia, added that physical activity can add between three to seven years of life.
"When people exercise regularly they may be able to retard the process of ageing," Sharma said. "We may never avoid becoming completely old, but we may delay the time we become old. We may look younger when we're 70 and may live into our 90s."
The researcher said that exercise is beneficial regardless of a person's age or condition and recommended everyone to do at least 20 to 25 minutes of daily walking that involves slow jogging and brisk walking.
Sharma also offered tips for people with heart condition saying that they should not run but walk at a point that they can still speak but are not able to sing.
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