Sunday, December 30, 2018

The sport? It's always good for your health, but only one type has an anti-aging effect

Sport is strongly recommended by doctors and professionals in the sector, who rely on what can now be defined as a dogma , given the vastness of scientific studies in favor: physical movement is good for mental and body health, succeeding, in some cases, to have an important role like drug therapy - as it happens for type 2 diabetes, for example. 

Having said that, each of us is likely to choose the sport he feels most likely to wear: but is a choice worth the other? Not really: the researchers have in fact observed that only one type of sport has an anti-aging effect , a sort of elixir of long life.  The sport? It's always good for your health, but only one type has an anti-aging effect ↓

The sport? It's always good for your health, but only one type has an anti-aging effect

Researchers have found resistance activities - running, swimming, cross-country skiing, cycling, rowing ... - which help to combat the cellular aging process , not those aimed at developing strength - lifting weight, launching weight, discus throw ...


This was highlighted by a group of German scientists , who analyzed the effects on body cells of three types of sport: resistance, at intervals of high intensity and strength. They concluded that both resistance development and high intensity activities have the ability to slow or in some cases even reverse the cellular aging process, but the same effect is not found in strength sports.


To establish the anti-aging effect, scientists have observed telomeres , the end parts of each chromosome, which protect the entire chromosome. The aging process to which we inevitably go against consists precisely in the shortening of telomere length and in the death of the cell when the telomere is no longer able to provide protection.  

The sport? It's always good for your health, but only one type has an anti-aging effect


The participants in the study , and specifically those who underwent resistance / intensive training, showed an increase in telomerase activity and a lengthening of the telomeres themselves, which means that their body has undergone substantially rejuvenation. A similar effect was not found in volunteers who followed a force development program.

The results of the German study are important for two reasons: first of all, it underlines a difference in the different types of sports , which can erroneously be considered all the same. Furthermore, the conclusions can help to direct patients towards better physical activity or at least emphasize the need to alternate between types of sports, so as not to completely overlook the effect on telomeres.

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