Posted on March 31st, 2009 by Craig Maltby, Editor
Walk the walk for immune balance
I’m a believer in exercise, as is anyone who has a basic interest in and half a brain about health and wellness. Thing is, I have to bypass
most of the fitness regimens everyone else seems to enjoy. I don’t like refraining from running, but I have to because it’s soooooooo booorrrrrrrrring and I can’t turn off my brain for that long every day. I would dearly love to bike 20 miles a day, but I live in the suburbs where all we have are congested 4-lane roads (I can’t jeopardize my life in that crazy traffic). The bike trails run parallel to main thoroughfares, making it way too noisy to enjoy a ride. I can’t put a bike rack on my car because it would scratch the paint. Tennis is out of the question because no one plays tennis anymore. They play Wii. Golf is for rich, beer-swilling, fat guys and I don’t wanna get into that club. Slow-pitch softball leagues are for poor, beer-swilling fat guys. Not me. Fitness centers? Forget it. There are too many strangers congregating there. Home exercise equipment just won’t work because…well…it just won’t.
So that leaves one physical activity I can partake in: walking. I enjoy walking. I can do it by myself with my ear buds firmly in place listening to March Madness or the Cubs on the radio. Or I can walk with my wife, tell her about my day, and pretend I’m listening to her talk about her day. All without huffing and puffing or much sweating.
But, you say, is walking good for achieving immune balance? Naturally that’s the first question most people ask. I can proudly say, you bet your Rockports it is. Here are some citations:
http://walking.about.com/od/healthbenefits/a/preventcold.htm
http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ijshs/4/Special_Issue_2_2006/4_508/_article
So walk it up. It’ s just one more thing you can empower yourself to do in achieving great immune health.
