REGULAR EXERCISE CAN PREVENT CHRONIC DISEASE
Recent figures indicate that 70 % of U.S. adults don’t get enough exercise, but physical activity and exercise provides many health benefits and is crucial in preventing chronic disease.

In fact, according to an article published in the Journal Of The American Medical Association (JAMA), March 2004, the number of deaths in the U.S. from chronic disease caused by lack of exercise and poor diet may soon overtake the number of deaths caused by smoking related chronic disease.

Throughout history, our ancestors were very active and needed to work hard, physically, to meet their basic everyday needs. But in the U.S. today, machines and technology has changed all that and has left most of the U.S. adult population living lives that are considered sedentary with one in four engaging in no physical activity at all.

However, lack of exercise contributes greatly to nearly every known chronic disease including heart disease, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, and cancer and is one of the major reasons why we’re seeing such an increase of these diseases in the U.S., even among children and young teens.

HOW EXERCISE PREVENTS CHRONIC DISEASE
Exercise is essential in preventing chronic disease in two ways. One, by providing an efficient nutrient and oxygen delivery system to the cells and two, by removing harmful toxins from within the cells.

Preventing cellular deficiency. One of the two main causes of chronic disease in the U.S. today is cellular deficiency. When the cells are deprived of sufficient nutrition, they begin to malfunction which over time leads to developing chronic disease.

While eating nutrient dense foods is important in order to keep the cells healthy, exercise increases blood flow sometimes by as much as 20 times the resting rate, thus providing the body with a significant increase of nutrient and oxygen charged blood. This increase in blood flow provides the cells of the muscles and organs with substantially more vitamins, minerals, and nutrients than they would otherwise be getting from a nutritious diet without exercise.

Preventing cellular toxicity. The second main cause of chronic disease in the U.S. is cellular toxicity. We as Americans are exposed to countless chemical combinations from our food, water, and our air and are experiencing a toxic overload within our cells at a level never seen before.

Just like eating organic food or taking only herbal supplements, exercise is a natural and effective way to detoxify the body in order to bring down these toxic levels to help preventing disease. One way exercise accelerates the detoxification process is by stimulating the lymphatic system which removes toxins and other harmful materials from the organs.

OBESITY, EXERCISE, AND CHRONIC DISEASE IN THE U.S.
Obesity has reached epidemic proportions and today is considered one of leading causes of chronic disease in the U.S. One in three American adults and 20 to 25 percent of American children are now considered obese. About 300,000 deaths per year in the U.S. are directly related to obesity, and more than 80 percent of these deaths occurred in people with a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30.

While researchers know that there are several factors that contribute to obesity in the U.S., they all agree that the most common causes of obesity are foods high in fat, overeating and physical inactivity. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) showed that lack of exercise was strongly correlated with weight gain in men, women, and children and current research shows that abdominal fat is especially dangerous by increasing insulin resistance, a condition that leads to diabetes and one that has been now linked to cancer.