Run for your life!
I'm running.
Before 'cancer gate' I used to run on and off. My aim was to be able to just run an effortless 3 or 4 miles whenever I felt like it. I think the mental image of me pounding the pavement to some tunes or running off some stress was one I tried to recreate in reality, but it can be hard sometimes to (as Nike says) just do it! There used to always be something that got in the way...work, kids, life and the biggest excuse of all..."I've no time!"
Things are different now. I'm running for my life...quite literally! Along with the dietary changes I made, I now have to ensure that I exercise too if I want to avoid reoccurrence...and I do!
Of course we all know that exercise is good for you. We all know that, but many
of us don't bother to make time for it. Well looking at what I have learned, if I want my odds to be the best I can, I need to make that time.
of us don't bother to make time for it. Well looking at what I have learned, if I want my odds to be the best I can, I need to make that time.
I am the sort of person that needs to know why. I hate just accepting something because someone says it is so...after all there is so much bullshit out there propped up by big business the truth can be difficult to find. So, after doing some research into why exercise is good for you and not just a reason to get you to spend some of your hard earned pounds on a gym membership that you never use...Yep, we have all done that at some time...here is what I have learned...
There are many benefits to exercise and they have been widely studied so the research is pretty solid in that exercise improves health outcomes, even if the mechanism behind why it works isn't always clear. Exercise is excellent for reducing your risk of chronic illness (e.g. heart disease, arthritis, etc) (link to a typical study suggesting this) and improving mental health (link to study). Along with a healthy diet (and as you know I recommend a vegan diet), exercising can help us to live healthier as we age, thus enjoying our elder years rather than living them out with chronic disease, pain or dementia. (Link to Benefits of Exercise - NHS Choices)
Sadly, the Western diets that we eat, the sedentary lifestyles we live, the drugs we are prescribed and the culture we live in, seems to negate this knowledge and has us in a downward spiral towards chronic ill health, obesity and early death. I would like to picture my later years still active and fit. Still able to move about freely, drive, think clearly, travel and live my dreams. The only way to try to ensure I am able to do this, is to look after my body now. I have learned my lesson.So, for someone like myself who has suffered from a disease such as cancer (it really could be any disease though), exercise is my prescribed drug..along with a vegan diet. And here is why it is particularly important...
Exercise plays a crucial role in helping to regulate metabolic hormones in our bodies, namely Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF) and IGF-binding proteins. To cut a long explanation short, high levels of IGF in our blood and low levels of the binding proteins can increase our risk of common cancers such as breast, prostate and colorectal cancers. Exercise however, helps to maintain normal or lower levels of IGF and so helps to reduce our risk.(Link to Study)
Exercise also helps to reduce the levels of circulating sex hormones and increase the sex hormone binding globulins. This helps to protect their target tissue (the breast tissue). This is of particular relevance to women whose breast cancer was endocrine/hormone receptor-positive (i.e. oestrogen or progesterone), such as myself. (Link to study)
Another way that exercise and diet work to protect us against disease is to improve our immune function and decrease oxidative stress. It is our immune system that works tirelessly to fight enemy invaders in our bodies. Eating poorly, lack of exercise and other risk factors such as smoking, alcohol, etc, put extra strain on the immune system, stopping it from doing its job. (link to study)
(link to study)
I could go on all day...but here is a blog link and a video from my favourite nutritionist Dr Michael Greger...Blog Link and Video Link
