Exercise And Relationship Lead To Longevity!

Our systems evolved over billions of years. Motion con­trols your system. When you don't exercise, your muscles let out a steady trickle of chemicals that tell every cell to decay, day after day. In fact you actually reloace approximately 1% of your bodies cells every day. That means 1% of your body is brand-new today, and you'll see another 1% replaced tomorrow. Entertain the idea that you're getting a whole new body every three months.

Here’s how exercise works at the cellular level. Your body is made up of many billions of cells that live by and large the for a few weeks or months. Then these cells die and are replaced by new cells in an endless cycle. For instance, blood cells live 10 days, and your muscle cells live about three months. Even your bones dissolve and are replaced, over and over again. A few key stem cells in each organ and your brain cells are the only ones that last as long as you do. All of one your other cells are in a constant and state of death and renewal.

Considered that way, you are walking about in a body that is brand new every 3 months. That includes lungs, liver, muscles, skin and more. Whether your body is function­ally younger or older is a choice you make by how you live. Yes, you choose whether those new cells come in stronger or weaker. You select whether they grow or decline each day. Your cells don’t care what choice you make and they simply fol­low the directions you send. Exercise, and your cells get stronger; sit down, and they decay.

Movement and exercise is a signal that it’s time to grow. So, when you exercise, your muscles release specific sub­stances that travel throughout your bloodstream, telling your cells to grow. There are other signals to our cells that are equal and, in ways even more important than exercise is emotion. One of the most fascinating revelations of the last decade is that emotions alter our cells through the same molecular pathways as exercise. Anger, stress and loneliness are signals for starvation and chronic dangerous to your longevity.

People who move from a sedentary lifestyle to and active one geared toward fitness, cut their risk of dying from a heart attack by 75% to 80% over a five year period. Both men and women can double their strength with three months of exercise, and most of us can double it again in another three months. This is true whether you’re in your 30s or your 90s. Men who have a heart attack and come home to a family are four times less likely to die of a sec­ond heart attack. Women battling heart disease or cancer do better in direct proportion to the num­ber of close friends and relatives they have. Ba­bies in the ICU who are touched more often are more likely to survive. Everywhere you look, you see the role of emo­tion in our biology. Like exercise, it’s a choice.

It may be difficult to exercise every day with our busy lives and it’s even harder to find the time and energy to maintain relationships and build communities. But it’s worth it when you consider the alternative. Go for a bike ride, walk or a run, and think about it. Deep in our cells, down at the level of molecular genetics, we are wired to exercise and to care. It’s not a miracle or a mystery. It’s your biology, and you’re in charge.