Walk your way to health

Walking literally means to move the legs and feet at a regular pace. Nature has provided us two legs to walk for all our needs. Our ancestors used to walk long distances in search of food and other needs. In this era of technical advancement, people walk less. One would walk only up to the car in garage or available transport and from one room to another at home. Because of this restricted physical activity, people have started suffering from obesity and its resultant diseases. Of all the physical exercises, walking is the easiest, economical and pleasurable.Exercises such as sports, swimming, gym, etc, requires one to go to some place, buy some apparatus or pay money for using it. But walking requires only the willingness to step out. Maybe a pair of sports shoes would be needed but it is not always necessary. Walking done 20 to 30 minutes every day makes one feel light and fresh. Sweating cleans the grime of the body, thus adding a glow to the face. Brisk walking reduces weight, removes the bulge and flab from the middle and thighs. It also helps to maintain the normal body weight. Legs and hips become shapely after regular walking. A habitual walker usually does not suffer stiff legs. It also helps to build up the overall physical stamina of the individual.It is also beneficial for the internal organs of the body. Regular walking tones up the lungs and heart and improves their functioning. They get adapted to work against stress, which is useful in the long run with advancing age. Bowels get toned up and intestinal motility is enhanced. This helps prevent constipation. Many people drink two to three glasses of water first thing in the morning and go out for a long brisk walk. This ensures good cleansing of the bowels and prevent constipation.It is beneficial for patients of hypertension and diabetes to take up regular walking. With walking on a daily basis, their diabetes and high blood pressure is controlled to the extent that they no longer need medicines, or they can do with minimum doses. This helps in avoiding dependence on medicines and their adverse effects. Patients of heart diseases also benefit from walking as their heart gets slowly acclimatised to physical activity. Walking does not induce stress on the heart. Only condition is that it should be done only to the extent until one is comfortable. Distance walked should be increased gradually over days.Walking is good not only for physical fitness but also mental fitness. While walking, you feel fresh and get ample time to ponder over any pending work or problem. Try to activate your mind while walking. This can be done by trying to recollect what you have read or trying to focus on some issue needing to be solved. If you find that difficult, just count forwards and backwards up to 10 or 100.You will realise how clearly your mind works and focuses on the work to be done. Patients of depression improve when they start walking regularly. While walking one can see and appreciate nature more. They can socialise with other people. This provides much needed human interaction, which is rapidly declining in this era of technology.Instead of using a transport, one can walk to their destination. Do not think walking is just a morning-evening-weekend activity because health knows no day or time.Dr Rachna Pande is apecialist Internal medicine at Ruhengeri Hospital