Dr. Euan Ashley:
Well, this particular research with the rats doesn’t answer that question, but, fortunately, we have lots of research to give us a good answer to that question.
And although you read lots of different things as every new study comes up, the overall advice has remained the same. The first thing is, any movement is better than none. So, if you’re in a sedentary job or you’re not used to moving much, then just stand up. Standing up is a good start.
If you can walk, take some walking paces, go for a walk at lunchtime, that’s great as well. If you can get 30 to 45 minutes of moderate intensity exercise, that’s like a brisk walk, if you can do that five, six times a week, that’s fantastic.
And, of course, if you want to do more, there’s added benefit. One of the things I regularly tell my patients — I’m a cardiologist — is that one minute of exercise buys you five minutes of extra life, which means you definitely have time to exercise, because, even if you exercise even a little bit higher intensity, you get seven or eight minutes of extra life.
So you definitely have time to make in your day to exercise. It doesn’t matter whether you do it in the morning, at lunchtime, in the evenings. It’s particularly good after meals, so the evening is a fine time to take a brisk walk.
But the main thing is get up, move about as much as you can.
