Dear Dr. Paster:
I recently went to my doctor who said my blood pressure was up and my cholesterol was too high — she wanted me to go on Lipitor. I didn’t want to. I have always worried about drug side effects. Besides, I always do things “naturally” if I can. So we made a deal — I’ll exercise for three months and she’ll retest. The problem is I hate exercise. Always have. Always will. So to make it more interesting I started collecting things as I went on my walks. You’d be surprised what you can find when you look. Spare change, discarded recyclable cans, the occasional $20 bill. My question to you, doc, is, will walking improve my numbers and help me live longer?
The Recycler
Dear Recycler:
Your numbers will probably get better, but if you really want to hit your stride you should eat differently.
I’d suggest the DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension). DASH was initially developed by the National Institutes of Health as a non-drug treatment for high blood pressure. It works for cholesterol, too. Go to nih.gov and search for DASH for more information, download what you will or, better yet, buy a DASH cookbook and start cooking.
DASH shows you how much fruit and veggies to eat. Making sure that your diet has enough protein is crucial in maintaining and improving muscle mass. DASH does just that, in part, because it encourages you to eat low-fat dairy products. They’re protein rich.
Now on to exercise. It’s critical, but like you I don’t love it. Don’t get me wrong, I love to ski, snowshoe and hike the woods, tool up mountains, whitewater raft — outdoor stuff, but I hate going down into the basement and hitting the treadmill. So I, too, spruce things up by watching TV one day, listening to an audiobook the next, listening to music on my iPod. You do this by looking for unburied treasure. Keep it up.
Now walking is clearly a great exercise. Makes you feel better and you’ll live longer. The first question you should ask is, how fast do I go? Walking speed is a commonly used measurement of how physically fit you are, especially in seniors. Multiple studies show that the slow walkers die sooner than fast walkers.
In a recent British Medical Journal article, “How fast does the Grim Reaper walk?” researchers wondered how fast you have to walk to outwalk the reaper.
Well, following 1,500 men 70 and older for a five-year period, researchers found that if you walk faster than 2 mph, you are three times less likely to die. They postulate, and I agree, that The Grim Reaper, working under the usual OSHA regulated conditions, is a stroller. Go faster than him and you’ll live forever.
All kidding aside, diet and exercise go hand in hand. The average Floridian gains four pounds during the winter and only sheds 2 pounds during the summer. That net gain of 2 pounds per year translates into a ton of obesity. So my dear reader, if you eat right and walk fast you’ll outpace the guy with the hood. That’s the real treasure.
Stay well.
Family physician Zorba Paster’s weekly call-in radio show, “On Your Health” is broadcast from 5-6 p.m. Sundays on WJCT (89.9 fm). His column appears on alternating Wednesdays in H. You can also check out his show’s website at wpr.org/zorb and email him at zorba@wpr.org.
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