Simply walking 10,000 steps each day can significantly improve the health of people who previously lived a sedentary lifestyle. Dr Ann M Swartz of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee studied 18 previously inactive, overweight women, for a period of eight weeks. The women were given a pedometer and asked to walk 10,000 steps each day. At the start of the study all of the women were deemed at high risk of diabetes, however just eight weeks of walking led to significant drops in blood pressure and significant improvements in glucose tolerance, both of which are important risk factors for diabetes. None of the women dieted during the study and none lost any weight, thus the health benefits were not derived from weight loss but simply from walking.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Preventive Medicine 2003;37:356-362.
