With more than a third of Americans classified as obese, everyone from first lady Michelle Obama to TV news anchor Katie Couric is advocating exercise to maintain a healthy weight.
That’s great, says Dr. Eudene Harry, author of “Live Younger in 8 Simple Steps,” (www.LivingHealthyLookingYounger.com), but the benefits of exercise go far beyond fitting into those skinny jeans.
For one, it will give you younger looking, more blemish-free skin.
“The increase in circulation and perspiration that occurs with exercise delivers more nutrients to your skin while allowing impurities and waste to be removed,” says Harry, who combines years of emergency-room experience with holistic medicine in her private practice. “The result? A healthier complexion!”
She adds four more hidden benefits of a good workout:
- Natural “feel-good” chemicals: Exercise releases endorphins, the brain chemicals that boost your mood and make you feel happy, as well as relieve stress, and enhance your self-esteem and self-confidence. Exercise has also been shown to increase neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and dopamine, which gives us a natural high and allows us to sleep better.
- Constipation prevention: Exercise increases the contractions of the wall of the intestine, helping to move things along through the intestinal tract more easily, and decreasing the time it takes to pass through the large intestine. But wait an hour or two after eating before exerting yourself: Exercising too soon after a meal can divert blood flow away from the gut and toward the muscles, weakening peristaltic contractions (and slowing down the digestion process).
- Prevents brittle bones: Walking, jogging, dancing, weight training and yoga are all weight-bearing exercises that help strengthen bones. Swimming and bicycling are exercises that are considered non-weight bearing. During weight-bearing exercises, bones adapt to the impact of the weight and the pull of muscles by building more bone cells, increasing strength and density and decreasing the risk of fractures, osteopenia and osteoporosis.
- Enhanced immunity: Physical exertion increases the rate at which antibodies flow through the blood stream, resulting in better immunity against sickness. The increased temperature generated during moderate exercise makes it difficult for certain infectious organisms to survive.
Don’t overdo your exercise, or you won’t see all of these benefits, Harry says.
“Check with a physician who can advise you on the right activities and intensity level for your individual needs,” she says.
“For all the benefits of exercise, there are down sides if you go at it too vigorously for your physical condition. For instance, you can actually increase stress hormones, which can make you more vulnerable to illness, rather than building your immunity.”
About the Author
Dr. Eudene Harry holds a bachelor’s in biology from New York University and completed both her medical degree and residency training at Thomas Jefferson University. Currently the medical director for the integrative and holistic Oasis Wellness and Rejuvenation Center, she has practiced medicine for nearly 20 years, is board certified in both emergency and holistic medicine, and for more than a decade practiced emergency medicine as an attending physician in Level II trauma centers. In 2005 she opened Oasis for Optimal Health, a private practice focused on integrative, holistic wellness and empowering and educating the patient.
Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Firefox.
I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something
to do with web browser compatibility but I figured I’d
post to let you know. The design and style look great though!
Hope you get the issue solved soon. Thanks
Ahaa, its pleasant conversation concerning this paragraph here at this weblog, I have read all that, so at this time me also commenting
here.
You’ve made some good points there. I looked on the net to
find out more about the issue and found most people will go along with your views on this site.
Excellent post. Keep writing such kind of info on your blog.
Im really impressed by it.
Hey there, You’ve performed a fantastic job. I’ll definitely digg it and in my
view recommend to my friends. I am confident they’ll
be benefited from this website.
Howdy! I simply would like to offer you a big thumbs
up for your excellent information you have got here on this post.
I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.
It’s really a nice and helpful piece of information. I’m happy that
you simply shared this helpful information with us.
Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
Very good article. I’m experiencing a few of these issues as well..
Terrific post however I was wanting to know if you could write a
litte more on this subject? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little
bit further. Appreciate it!
We are a group of volunteers and opening a
new scheme in our community. Your website offered us with valuable
info to work on. You have done an impressive job
and our whole community will be grateful to you.
Hello! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new iphone!
Just wanted to say I love reading your blog and look forward to all your posts!
Keep up the outstanding work! natalielise pof
It’s appropriate time to make a few plans for the long
run and it’s time to be happy. I have learn this publish and
if I may I wish to counsel you few interesting things or tips.
Perhaps you could write next articles relating to this article.
I desire to learn even more things about it!
Thank you for some other great post. The place else may
anyone get that kind of information in such an ideal means
of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I’m on the search for such information.
Hi there, I log on to your blogs on a regular basis.
Your story-telling style is awesome, keep doing what you’re doing!
With havin so much content and articles do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation?
My site has a lot of unique content I’ve either created myself or outsourced but it looks like a lot
of it is popping it up all over the web without my permission. Do you know
any techniques to help protect against content from being stolen? I’d really appreciate it.
plenty of fish natalielise
I all the time emailed this weblog post page to all my
friends, since if like to read it after that
my friends will too.
Usually I don’t learn article on blogs, however I would like to say that
this write-up very forced me to take a look at and
do it! Your writing style has been amazed me. Thank you, very nice
post.
The best thing to use is a penis health creme called Man1 Man Oil. It delivers important vitamins and proteins directly to the penis which help with blood flow, skin texture, hygiene and more.. it will improve your sex life for sure. Check it out.
Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it.
Look advanced to far added agreeable from you!
By the way, how could we communicate?
Wonderful article! We are linking to this great content on our website.
Keep up the great writing.
I like what you guys are usually up too. This sort
of clever work and reporting! Keep up the amazing works guys
I’ve you guys to my personal blogroll.
certainly like your web site but you have to check the spelling on several of your posts.
Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I to find it very bothersome to tell the reality then again I will definitely come again again.
We’re a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community.
Your site provided us with valuable information to work on.
You’ve done an impressive job and our whole community will be grateful to you.
Thanks for some other informative website. The place else
may I get that kind of info written in such an ideal manner?
I have a venture that I am just now operating on, and
I’ve been at the look out for such information.
With havin so much content and articles do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright violation? My website has
a lot of unique content I’ve either written myself or outsourced but it appears a
lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my agreement.
Do you know any techniques to help protect against content from being ripped off?
I’d genuinely appreciate it.
I visited multiple blogs however the audio quality for audio songs current at this web page is really fabulous.
You are so interesting! I do not think I’ve truly read through something like that
before. So nice to discover somebody with original thoughts
on this subject. Seriously.. thank you for starting this up.
This website is one thing that is required on the internet, someone with a bit of originality!
Hi there to every body, it’s my first pay a visit of this web site; this
weblog consists of awesome and truly good stuff for readers.
cheap flights 32hvAj4
Hi there everybody, here every one is sharing these kinds of know-how, so it’s pleasant to read this blog,
and I used to visit this website everyday.
Hello, after reading this remarkable article i am too cheerful to share my know-how here with colleagues.
Its like you read my thoughts! You seem to grasp so much
about this, like you wrote the e-book in it or something.
I believe that you simply could do with some %
to drive the message home a bit, but other than that, that is fantastic blog.
An excellent read. I’ll definitely be back.