MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Running seven minutes a day, helps keeps you ahead of cardiovascular diseases

Running for less than an hour a week benefitted as much as those running more than three hours a week

A new study has found that every step counts – literally – towards reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. Heart healthy exercise, moreover, need not be either time-consuming or tiring. Scientists at Iowa State University found that running for just seven minutes daily, even at slow speeds, could help reduce the risk of dying from heart disease by up to 50%.

The researchers analyzed data from 55,137 adults between the ages of 18 and 100 over a period of 15 years. During that time, more than 3,000 of the participants died, with 1,217 of those deaths related to heart disease.

Just under a quarter of the participants were runners, who were found to have a 45% lower risk of death from heart disease or stroke, and a 30% lower risk of death from all causes than non-runners. On average, they also lived three years longer than non-runners.

The findings, which were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, showed that those who ran for less than an hour a week benefitted as much as those running more than three hours a week.

Running for seven minutes daily (less than 51 minutes weekly), slower than six miles an hour, or fewer than six miles, all slashed the chances of dying.

According to Dr Duck-Chun Lee, the study’s lead scientist: “Since time is one of the strongest barriers to participate in physical activity, the study may motivate more people to start running and continue to run as an attainable health goal for mortality benefits.

“Running may be a better exercise option than more moderate intensity exercises for healthy but sedentary people.

“[This is because] it produces similar, if not greater, mortality benefits in five to 10 minutes, compared to the 15 to 20 minutes per day of moderate intensity activity that many find too time consuming.”

The researchers found that study participants who ran regularly for an average of six years experienced the biggest benefit, with their risk of death from heart disease or stroke reduced by 50%.