We are right in the middle of the flu and cold season in Canberra. Many of us have had our kids or work colleagues coughing and sneezing around us. But did you know that by exercising regularly you can help to keep your immunity up and colds to a minimum. The following article provides details about this.
Exercise provides immunity boost
Exercise, the miracle that puts the spring in our step (and keeps us employed), may even prevent the common cold.
Researchers from the Appalachian State University and the University of North Carolina, found that the more we exercise the less likely we are to get sick in the winter.
The study followed a group of approximately 1,000 healthy adults aged from 18 to 85 years, over a 12-week period during the US autumn and winter seasons of 2008. Throughout the study participants reported any symptoms of respiratory infection. Those in the top quarter for fitness levels – exercising for five or more days per week – experienced 43 per cent fewer days of cold-like symptoms than those in the lowest 25 per cent of fitness levels, who exercised for one day or less per week. Not only was the incidence of a cold less likely, but when they did get a cold the fittest participants had the least severe symptoms. Cold-like symptoms were 32 per cent less severe in the top 25 per cent of exercisers compared to the bottom 25 per cent.
‘As a general rule, the healthier you are, the easier you’ll find it is to fight off infections’ Associate Professor Stephen Turner from the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Melbourne said; ‘We know that people who exercise regularly have lower levels of stress hormones in the blood, and there’s a definite link between low levels of stress hormones and improved immunity’.
Source: The Journal of Sports Medicine
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