The benefits of walking are irrefutable. Of course, taking a daily stroll can help you lose weight, but it can also reduce depression risk, keep your brain sharp, and improve your cardiovascular health. But what is refutable is how many steps you need to take to reap these benefits. Some experts are steadfast in saying that 10,000 is the magic number, while others claim that as little as 4,000 steps a day can transform your wellbeing. Now, a new study looks at how walking can reduce cancer risk—and these researchers have their own step-count recommendation.
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A new study examined the relationship between step count and cancer risk.
In a new study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers evaluated health data from more than 85,000 adults in the U.K. with a median age of 63. The participants wore wrist accelerometers that tracked daily physical activity, activity intensity, and step count.
The researchers then established a mean follow-up of 5.8 years and looked at the relationship between these daily averages and the incidence of 13 cancer types, including breast cancer and colon cancer.
According to a press release, the findings are “among the first to evaluate the cancer risk reduction associated with light-intensity activities such as doing errands and performing household chores.”
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Researchers found that taking 9,000 daily steps could reduce cancer risk by 16 percent.
At the conclusion of the study period, 2,633 participants had been diagnosed with one of the 13 cancer types. After adjusting for demographic factors, lifestyle factors, body mass index (BMI), and other health conditions, the researchers concluded the following:
- Those with the highest total amount of daily physical activity had a 26 percent lower risk of developing cancer than those who had the lowest amount
- Cancer risk was 11 percent lower for those taking 7,000 steps per day than for those taking 5,000 steps
- Cancer risk was 16 percent lower for those taking 9,000 steps per day than for those taking 5,000 steps
After 9,000 steps, the risk reduction “plateaued,” according to the study. Interestingly, though, the pace of walking did not correlate with a reduced risk of cancer like step count did—meaning as long as you hit your step count, it may not matter if you’re power walking or strolling at a slower pace.
Walking has been previously shown to reduce breast cancer risk.
Though the new study looked at common cancers more generally, a 2013 study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Preventionestablished a positive relationship between walking and breast cancer risk reduction.
These researchers analyzed the health data of more than 73,000 postmenopausal women in the U.S. between 1992 and 2009. They found that women who walked for at least seven hours a week had a 14 percent lower risk of breast cancer than those who walked three hours or less.
RELATED: How to Walk 10,000 Steps a Day Without Leaving the House.
How does walking lower cancer risk?
Experts say there are many reasons why walking may help lower cancer risk.
In speaking with The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), Amy Berrington, DPhil, leader of the ICR’s Clinical Cancer Epidemiology Group, explained, “It’s thought that exercise lowers cancer risk in a number of ways, firstly, by helping to lower BMI, but also through the modulation of hormones, inflammation, the immune system, digestion and metabolism.”
“For example, exercise can help to control insulin levels, and high insulin levels have been linked to cancer development and progression,” she added.
Content shared from bestlifeonline.com.