Some people exercise to shed pounds and look better, while others may just love the boost of energy they get and feeling good. No matter what the reason you workout, you get the same results, exercise improves your health. It builds your energy and makes changes to your body that can add years to your life. Your body has five systems that when functioning properly, keep you healthy. They’re microbiome, angiogenesis, stem cells, immune system and DNA protection. Exercise helps all those areas.
What’s your microbiome system?
The simple answer is gut bacteria. Your body has more microbes than cells. In fact, there is an estimate that they outnumber human cells by ten to one, but they’re far smaller than human cells, so they are only five pounds or less of our body weight. The microbiome live in the gut with most of them in the large intestine. They aid in digestion, boosting immunity, keeping bad bacteria at bay and producing nutrients, such as B and K vitamins. Diseases as different as inflammatory bowel syndrome, diabetes and mental health issues come from an imbalance. Exercise can boost the health of gut bacteria and that after just six weeks of working out, the composition of microbes changed to a healthier grouping.
Your body continues to make stem cells after you’ve reached adult age.
Exercise boosts how stem cells behave. Exercise encourages stem cells to produce muscle tissue rather than revert to fat. That means even age related muscle loss can be reversed. Orthopedic specialists often encourage patients to exercise to increase the number of stem cells in the body. The more active you are, the more stem cells are produced. Stem cells can become any type of cell in the body, so there’s a potential for reversing aging. More research is necessary to see the extent of change.
Exercise increases DNA protection.
DNA protection comes from the telomeres on the chromosomes. Telomeres act like the tips of shoelaces, preventing the chromosomes from unraveling and destroying the DNA. When your cells replicate, some of the chromosome is lost. The telomere is the dispensable part of that’s shortened, to protect the DNA. When you workout, you lengthen the telomeres so cells can continue to replicate without damage or cell death
- Angiogenesis is the process of maintaining just the right amount of blood vessels. An excess or insufficiency is bad and can cause cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other maladies. Exercise promotes normalization of the process.
- Exercise also boosts your immune system. It helps boost antibodies and normalizes white blood cells, improve gut bacteria, burns off the hormones of stress and increases the production of antioxidants.
- While exercise is important, you can’t ignore the importance of the role food plays in your health. There’s a whole new area in the medical field studying the potential for food to be medicine to fight disease and keep people healthier.
- You’ll have improved circulation, a stronger fitter body and more energy when you workout, but you’ll also boost your feeling of well being. When you feel happier, studies show you live longer.