Walking quickly not only gets you to places faster, research suggests it might slash your chances of developing type 2 diabeets.
Picking up the pace to 3.7 miles per hour (6kph) can reduce the risk by 39 percent, with every 0.6mph (1kph) cutting it by a further 9 percent.
Experts said it was something everyone could do as part of their daily lives to halt the diabetes timebomb. Picking up the pace to 3.7 miles per hour (6kph) can reduce the risk by 39 per cent, with every 0.6mph (1kph) cutting it by a further 9 per cent
An international team of researchers, including from Imperial College London, wanted to ascertain the optimal walking speed to stave off the disease.
They looked at ten studies published between 1999 and 2022, which included follow-up periods of between three and 11 years.
Some 508,121 adult patients were included from across the UK, Japan and the US.
The team found walking at between1.8mph (3kph) and 3.1mph (5kph) reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes by 15 percent when compared with walking at a pace of less than 3km an hour. The risk reduced further with a faster pace, with a fairly brisk walk of between 3.1 (5kph) and 3.7 mph (6kph) is associated with a quarter (24 per cent) lower risk.
Those who walked at a speed of higher than 3.7mph (6kph) had a 39 percent lower risk of developing the condition, according to the findings published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. This could be because people with a faster walking speed are more likely to be fitter, with greater muscle mass and better overall health.
Brisk walking is also good for weight loss which helps to improve insulin sensitivity, they said. They conclude: ‘While current strategies to increase total walking time are beneficial, it may also be reasonable to encourage people to walk at faster speeds to further increase the health benefits of walking.’ Rising obesity levels are blamed for soaring levels of diabetes in the UK, with estimated cases having now topped 5 million.
Approximately 90 percent of diabetes cases are type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity and is typically diagnosed in middle age, rather than type 1 diabetes, which is a genetic condition usually identified early in life.
Neil Gibson, of Diabetes UK, said: ‘Walking is cost-free, simple and for most people can be integrated into regular activities like getting to work, shopping and visiting friends.
‘While progressing to a faster pace is usually recommended for greater health gains, it’s important that people walk at a pace that they can manage and is suitable for them.’
-Daily Mail.co.uk
