Our July webinar (now available for free online) was hosted by our very own functional medicine practitioner, Fera Butts, and is all about the many benefits of moving your body every day! If you’re thinking that we’re strictly talking about exercise, and then thinking that of course we all know exercise is good for us, you are partly correct. Exercise is movement, for sure, but not all movement is exercise! What’s more, even daily movement that is NOT exercise can yield countless benefits to your overall health and wellness.
You may now be wondering what kind of non-exercise movement is still good for your health? This kind of movement is also known as NEAT: Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. A few common examples include:
● Vacuuming
● Taking out the trash
● Parking your car farther away from the building
● Taking the stairs instead of the elevator
Clearly there are many ways to work NEAT movement into your daily routine, but if you’re still wondering just HOW beneficial daily movement can be for your mind, body and soul, here are six key areas of the body that see major benefits:
Brain:
Daily movement, exercise or NEAT, helps to calm the mind, enhance focus, increase memory, slow cognitive decline, boost your mood and your energy, decrease anxiety and depression, improve quality of sleep and even improve oxygen levels in your brain, which helps to build new brain cells!
Lungs:
With daily movement, your lungs increase the oxygen flow to your brain, body and muscles. They will also improve the gas exchange (meaning increased oxygen levels in the blood) and the overall efficiency of your lungs will improve. Healthier, stronger and more efficient lungs also mean stronger respiratory muscles and an improved immune system (because the increased flow of oxygen flushes out bacteria in the lungs and airways).
Heart:
When you commit to daily movement, the benefits to your heart are significant. These benefits include lower blood pressure, decreased resting heart rate, overall stronger heart muscle, decreased risk of heart disease, less plaque buildup in the arteries and improved cholesterol levels.
Pancreas: People at risk of or diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes are often advised to exercise more, or even just incorporate daily movement into their lifestyle. This is because daily movement can improve pancreatic function by improving insulin sensitivity and by drawing on your body’s sugar reserves in your muscles and liver. Drawing from those reserves means there will be less glucose in your blood, which in turn lowers your body’s insulin levels and decreases insulin resistance. All of this comes together to improve Type 2 diabetes or lower your risk.
Digestion:
Making deliberate movement a part of every day can increase the blood flow to your digestion muscles. This improvement can in turn lead to less constipation, fewer gallstones and less reflux. Daily movement also helps to balance your gut bacteria, which leads to a boost in your mood since most of the body’s serotonin is made in the gut! Other benefits include a lower risk of colon cancer, decreased feelings of hunger and a decrease in excess visceral fat (the fat that builds up behind the muscles and puts pressure on vital organs).
Muscles:
Of course there are many benefits to your muscles when you engage in daily movement. You will increase your lean muscle mass and decrease harmful visceral fat. You will also improve balance, posture and body coordination, which leads to fewer injuries. Stronger muscles also lead to a better calorie-burning metabolism and enhanced bone density. Stronger muscles are actually linked to living longer!
This is simply an overview of the details provided in our July webinar, but you can see that there are almost infinite benefits to your health and wellness when you make movement part of your daily routine, whether in the form of exercise or not. The key to succeeding with daily movement is to make it a kind of movement that is fun for you and fits your daily lifestyle. Whether you enjoy walking, running, hiking, bike riding or dancing around your living room, we encourage you to find a way to move for at least 30 minutes every day. Your mind, body and soul will be so glad you did!
To learn more about functional health, IV nutrition therapy, hormone replacement therapy and other wellness opportunities at BESANA Health & Wellness, reach out to your team today at 303.327.7300 or request a consultation online. Our team will be honored to help you become the healthiest, happiest you!
