exercise

In addition to helping us enjoy a healthier body weight, exercise may also boost our immune system. Studies have found that if we let kids run around for just six minutes, the levels of immune cells circulating in their blood may increase by nearly 50 percent. At the other end of the life cycle, regular exercise may also help prevent age-related immune decline. One study found that while elderly, sedentary women have a 50 percent chance of getting an upper-respiratory illness during the fall season, those randomized to begin a half-hour-a-day walking program dropped their risk down to 20 percent.

Physical activity is also considered a promising preventive measure against breast cancer—not only because it helps with weight control but because exercise tends to lower circulating estrogen levels. Five hours a week of vigorous aerobic exercise may lower estrogen and progesterone exposure by about 20 percent, and moderately intense activity may offer as much benefit as vigorous exercise; walking an hour a day or more appears to be associated with significantly lower breast cancer risk.

Can exercise halt cognitive decline? Researchers took a group of people with mild cognitive impairment (for example, those starting to forget things or regularly repeating themselves) and had them engage in aerobic exercise for 45 to 60 minutes a day, 4 days a week, for 6 months. The control group simply stretched for the same time periods. Researchers found that in the control group, cognitive function appeared to continue to decline. But the exercising group not only didn’t get worse, they seemed to get better, answering more test questions correctly after six months, indicating their memory had improved. Indeed, aerobic exercise may actually reverse age-related shrinkage in the memory centers of the brain and help improve cerebral blood flow, improve memory performance, and help preserve brain tissue.

Exercise may also help prevent and treat high blood pressure, and improve our mood and quality of sleep. If the U.S. population collectively exercised enough to shave just 1 percent off the national body mass index (BMI), 2 million cases of diabetes, 1.5 million cases of heart disease, and up to 127,000 cases of cancer may be prevented.

I recommend 90 minutes of moderate-intensity activity, such as brisk (four miles per hour) walking or 40 minutes of vigorous activity (such as jogging or active sports) each day.

For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.

Image Credit: Adrian Flores / Unsplash. This image has been modified.

230 videos

All Videos for Exercise

The Secret to Weight Loss Through Exercise

Exercise ramps up appetite, helping to explain why calories burned don’t necessarily equal calories lost, so how can we lose weight through physical activity?

The Exercise “Myth” for Weight Loss

Why is it so hard to outrun a bad diet?

Woman experiencing hot flash on a bench outside

How to Delay the Age of Menopause with Diet and Lifestyle Factors

Approximately half of the variability of age of menopause among women is explained by genetics. What behaviors or circumstances can help explain the rest?

How to Boost Your Endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPCs) for Heart Health

How can we improve the capacity of our blood vessels to repair themselves?

Preventing and Treating Osteoporosis (Webinar Recording)

I’m happy to share the recording of my webinar on osteoporosis, which includes 11 videos and a Q&A.

Dr. Greger and the presentation title on a blue background

How Not To Age – Live Presentation

In this live lecture, Dr. Greger offers a sneak peek into his latest book, How Not to Age, a New York Times Best Seller.

Dumbbell and fitness with old woman, elderly exercise

Fall Prevention Is the Most Important Thing for Preventing Osteoporosis Bone Fractures

A combination of resistance exercise to improve lower limb muscle strength and balance training can beat out drugs for preventing osteoporotic bone fractures.

loose muscle on an arm of a senior elderly woman

What Is Creatine? Can It Treat Sarcopenia (Muscle Loss with Age)?

When accompanied by a progressive strength-training regimen, 3 grams of creatine a day may improve muscle performance in older adults.

Photo of Dr. Greger against blue background with words “New Book How Not to Age”

Book Trailer for How Not to Age

Learn about my newest book, How Not to Age, a New York Times Best Seller.

Close up of person stretching and holding foot

The Side Effects of Yoga

What is the rate of yoga injuries compared to other activities?

Yoga Put to the Test for IBS, Inflammatory Bowel, Menopause, and Osteoporosis

A study using sham acupuncture underscores the necessity of controlling for expectancy effects.

Yoga Put to the Test for Depression, Anxiety, and Urinary Incontinence

Which of the 50 different yoga styles have been shown to be best?

Two people helping each other with yoga poses

Yoga Put to the Test for Headaches, Diabetes, Osteoarthritis, and the Elderly

What happens when real yoga is compared to sham yoga?

Close up of hands in a meditative pose on a beach

Yoga Put to the Test for MS, Back Pain, Neck Pain, Insomnia, and Breast Cancer

Is yoga better than other types of exercise, better than nothing but similar to other physical activity, or not beneficial even when it’s compared to doing nothing at all?

Rolling up a yoga mat in a classroom setting

How to Prove Whether Yoga Has Special Health Benefits

Yoga practitioners are healthier, but does practicing yoga lead to good health, or does good health lead to practicing yoga?

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep Without Sleeping Pills

Taking less than just 18 Ambien-class sleeping pills in an entire year may triple the risk of dying prematurely.

Greens, Green Tea, and Nuts Put to the Test for Telomeres

Not all plant foods are linked to less cellular aging based on telomere attrition, and not all animal foods are linked to more.

Nuts, berries, grain, vegetables, and fruits spread out

What to Eat to Prevent Telomere Shortening

The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of plant-based diets may explain why they can effectively reverse cellular aging by elongating telomeres.

Better to Exercise Before or After Meals for Weight Loss and Blood Sugar Control?

If people burn more fat on the days they exercise before eating, rather than afterwards, why doesn’t this translate into more weight loss?

Older male kneeling down to tie sneakers

The Best Time to Exercise for Weight Loss

Burn off significantly more body fat exercising before meals, rather than after them.

Improving VO2 Max: A Look at Vegetarian and Vegan Athletes

Plant-based diets improve the performance of athletes and nonathletes alike.

Is Swimming Good for Weight Loss?

Exercising in cool water or under cool conditions on land can lead to an increase in post-workout calorie intake.

Woman holding upper shoulder as if in pain

The Best Diet for Fibromyalgia and Other Chronic Pain Relief

Anti-inflammatory diets can be effective in alleviating chronic pain syndromes.

Diet and Lifestyle for Cancer Prevention and Survival

What kind of diet should cancer patients eat?

Do Vegans Have Lower Bone Density and More Fractures?

What are the bone fracture rates of omnivores vs. vegetarians vs. vegans?

Why All Athletes Should Eat Plant-Based Diets

Enhance athletic performance with diet.

Selection of fruits, vegetables, and nuts

Dietary Approach to Naturally Treating Menopause Symptoms

Specific foods have been shown in randomized controlled trials to improve symptoms like hot flashes.

Woman with shopping cart with vegetables

How a Plant-Based Diet Can Help Reduce Racial Health Disparities

Why are Black Americans sicker and die younger than their white counterparts, and what can we do about it?

Assortment of vegetables, dried beans, and berries

The Best Diet for Healthy Aging

Swapping just 1 percent of plant protein in place of animal protein was associated with signiﬁcantly less age-related deﬁcit accumulation.

woman buying packaged meat in supermarket

How Much Does Meat Affect Longevity?

If you care about your health so much that it would be unthinkable to light up a cigarette before and after lunch, maybe you should order a bean burrito instead of a meaty one.

Exercising to Protect Your Arteries from Fast Food

There is a window of time in which sufficient physical activity can help mediate some of the damage caused by eating an unhealthy meal.

glass jar of peanut butter on dark background

Do the Health Benefits of Peanut Butter Include Longevity?

Why are nuts associated with decreased mortality, but not peanut butter?

Life Extension with FGF21

What can we do to boost the longevity hormone FGF21?

Large collection of the healthy foods including spinach, garbanzo beans, carrots, beets, ginger.

How to Increase Your Life Expectancy 12 to 14 Years

What can physicians do to promote healthy, life-extending, lifestyle changes?

Prunes: A Natural Remedy for Constipation

Prunes, figs, and exercise are put to the test as natural home remedies for constipation.

Image of man writing notes in a journal while referencing his phone screen

How Useful Is Personalized Nutrition?

Perhaps it should be less about personalized nutrition and more about taking personal responsibility for your health.

Medical team preparing equipment for surgery

Extreme Weight-Loss Devices

I discuss the safety and efficacy for weight loss of everything from Botox and corsets to siphons and tapeworms.

Assortment of dairy and meat products on dark countertop

Avoid These Foods to Prevent a Leaky Gut

Avoid these foods for leaky gut prevention: common drugs, foods, and beverages can disrupt the integrity of our intestinal barrier.

Alarm clock with fork and knife as clock hands

Fasting to Reverse Diabetes

By losing 15 percent of their body weight, nearly 90 percent of those who’ve had type 2 diabetes for less than four years can achieve remission.

How to Boost Brain BDNF Levels for Depression Treatment

Fasting and exercise can raise BDNF levels in our brain, but this can also be achieved by eating and avoiding certain foods.

Popular Videos for Exercise