{"id":34837,"date":"2014-12-03T11:15:23","date_gmt":"2014-12-03T16:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=34837"},"modified":"2021-05-15T03:32:16","modified_gmt":"2021-05-15T07:32:16","slug":"health-benefits-of-running-alzheimers-120314","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/health-benefits-of-running-alzheimers-120314\/","title":{"rendered":"Running 15 Miles per Week Could Slash Alzheimer\u2019s Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Running
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Running has plenty of benefits: It revs your metabolism<\/a>, helps you build stamina and offers a solid excuse to spend money on killer sneaks<\/a>. But this new study from the Journal of Alzheimer\u2019s Disease<\/a> might offer the best reason yet to lace up your shoes and grind out some serious miles. Among 153,000 participants in the National Runners\u2019 and Walkers\u2019 Health Studies, those who ran at least 15.3 miles per week experienced a 40 percent reduction in Alzheimer\u2019s mortality. Yet, logging fewer miles decreased that benefit: Those who ran 4.5 to 7.7 miles per week only saw a 6 percent reduction. Score one for the endurance<\/a> kings and queens?<\/p>\n

Study author Dr. Paul T. Williams<\/a>, of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, says this research shows that exercise \u2014 and lots of it \u2014 might be your best Rx<\/a> when it comes to preventing Alzheimer\u2019s. \u201cI think this and other research suggest that there are lifestyle choices people can make that will significantly impact their risk for Alzheimer\u2019s disease,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But is running your best bet when it comes to preventing the onset of Alzheimer\u2019s? And how much do you need to sweat to stave off the disease that kills 500,000 people<\/a> every year?<\/p>\n

RELATED: 10 Best Apps to Train Your Brain<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Why Exercise Works Your Body and Your Brain<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s not completely clear why physical activity has such a strong impact on brain health<\/a>. \u201cBut it\u2019s been known for a while that among people who are intellectually more active, or have more intellectually demanding jobs, the onset of Alzheimer\u2019s disease is delayed,\u201d Williams says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s the same thing that\u2019s going on with exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n

“The sweet spot is probably around 30 miles of running per week.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As you age, your brain changes<\/a>. You lose connectivity between portions of your brain, and some regions even experience shrinkage, according to Williams. \u201cThat\u2019s prevented by exercise,\u201d Williams says. \u201cAnd these results don\u2019t just apply to Alzheimer\u2019s, but to general cognition<\/a> as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alzheimer\u2019s is a mysterious disease \u2014 most doctors don\u2019t know much about how to treat it and there are no effective drugs to prevent it. But Williams believes that by making adjustments to diet and exercise, people at high risk for Alzheimer\u2019s could help delay the onset of disease. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to wait for a drug to appear on the horizon,\u201d Williams says. \u201cThere seem to be lifestyle benefits that can help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other findings in his study showed that eating three servings of fruit<\/a> per day can help cut Alzheimer\u2019s mortality risk by up to 60 percent \u2014 and previous research has heralded the benefits of the Mediterranean diet<\/a> for brain health.<\/p>\n

Your Running Rx: How Much Is Enough?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While 15 miles per week has benefits, \u201cthe sweet spot is probably around 30 miles of running per week,\u201d Williams argues. \u201cIf one really wants to go for optimal health the answer is the more the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The good news is that it doesn\u2019t matter how you split up your running schedule<\/a> to hit your 15-plus mile per week goals \u2014 whether you\u2019d prefer to run three days a week, or six, all that matters is your overall miles.<\/p>\n

Of course, proper training and slowly building up your miles<\/a> is key to preventing injury. And walkers benefited from hitting the streets, too. The only catch was that they had to exercise for about twice as long, walking nearly 50 percent further to see the same decrease in Alzheimer\u2019s mortality risk. \u201cRunning is just that much more efficient in expending more calories in a shorter amount of time,\u201d Williams says. Other research<\/a> has shown that strength training<\/a> also keeps your brain sharp \u2014 so don\u2019t be afraid to mix up your workouts by spending time in the weight room<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> 30 Reasons Women Should Strength Train<\/a><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re already logging 15 to 30 miles per week, you\u2019re ahead of the game. The National Runners\u2019 and Walkers\u2019 Health Studies also linked the healthy habit to a reduced risk of eye disease, a variety of cancers, heart disease and stroke in addition to Alzheimer\u2019s. And if you need an extra push to get you out the door, remember: \u201cThere\u2019s almost nothing you can do that\u2019s more effective in preventing disease than exercise,\u201d Williams says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your running routine may help you avoid Alzheimer\u2019s disease \u2013 depending on the number of miles you log. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":34840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24,6],"tags":[202,217,251,108,345,369],"class_list":["post-34837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardio","category-exercise","category-fitness","tag-brain","tag-disease","tag-news","tag-running","tag-tax1conditions","tag-tax2alzheimers"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}