Walk outside.

30 min a day (or more….or maybe less?)

Prescribed forest bathing in Japan has led to a healthier lifestyle for people of all ages.

In the 1990s, researchers began studying the physiological benefits of forest bathing, providing the science to support what we innately know: time spent immersed in nature is good for us.

Forest bathing is not just for the wilderness-lover; the practice can be as simple as walking in any natural environment…

Beach, forest, park.

Walk barefoot, run, crawl, roll or lie down.

National Institute of Health : reconnect with the earth

emerging scientific research has revealed a surprisingly positive and overlooked environmental factor on health: direct physical contact with the vast supply of electrons on the surface of the Earth. Modern lifestyle separates humans from such contact. The research suggests that this disconnect may be a major contributor to physiological dysfunction and unwellness. Reconnection with the Earth's electrons has been found to promote intriguing physiological changes and subjective reports of well-being.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3265077/

Multi-disciplinary research has revealed that electrically conductive contact of the human body with the surface of the Earth (grounding or earthing) produces intriguing effects on physiology and health. Such effects relate to inflammation, immune responses, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

Grounding appears to improve sleep, normalize the day–night cortisol rhythm, reduce pain, reduce stress, shift the autonomic nervous system from sympathetic toward parasympathetic activation, increase heart rate variability, speed wound healing, and reduce blood viscosity. A summary has been published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health.⁴

ACM and walking

5-7 miles, 10,000-15,000 steps

(~3.5 miles or ~7000 steps for optimal ACM over 60 yo)

Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis - The Lancet 2022

Taking more steps per day was associated with a progressively lower risk of all-cause mortality, up to a level that varied by age.

The Lancet:

(Specifically):

decreasing risk of mortality among adults aged 60 years and older with increasing number of steps per day until 6000–8000 steps per day and among adults younger than 60 years until 8000–10 000 steps per day.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(21)00302-9/fulltext

Note:

If there’s no time for a long walk try 3-4 minutes of Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity. The findings of this large cohort study suggest that 3 to 4 minutes of VILPA per day may be associated with decreased cancer incidence risk.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2807734

Simple summary: Walk, run, swim outside.