Exercise is crucial
Charlie Spedding is best known as an Olympic medal winning marathon runner and the author of From Last to First, but he has worked for most of his life as a community pharmacist. During his years in the health service he has witnessed the terrible rise in life-style diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. Whilst medication for people suffering from these conditions is still essential, Charlie has decided that his time is better spent campaigning for healthier life-styles that will reduce the occurence of these diseases. He explains why,
“Life-style diseases are abnormalities caused by living an abnormal life over a period of time. People who live a normal life hardly ever get these diseases. A normal life for human beings consists of daily exercise and a diet of natural food. A sedentary life combined with lots of highly processed food is abnormal for humans and it makes the body become abnormal. For most people, it is that simple. The benefits of regular exercise are far greater than most people realise. We evolved to be very mobile hunters and many of our regulatory systems evolved at the same time. People who think that exercise is just for losing a little weight need to think again."
Read about how we evolved through exercise: Run for your Life
Benefits of moderate exercise:
It Improves memory and academic achievement.
A study of 1,000 primary school children showed that exercise significantly improved their scores in memory tests.
Children's activity and academic attainment.
How exercise benefits the brain.
It prevents insulin resistance which leads to type 2 diabetes.
Exercise alone improves insulin sensitivity
Diabetes and exercise
Insulin resistance, obesity and memory
It reduces cardio-vascular disease and stroke.
Exercise for your heart
