4000 Steps Twice a Week Help Not Forgetting Names at Weddings and Parties

In May 2021, I wrote about how those who walked just 4000 steps a day (3-3.5 km/day) for 30-45 minutes halved their mortality risk, compared to those who did nothing or walked just 2000 steps a day or less. Then in July 2021, I wrote a short piece about how walking for 20-40 minutes per day at a moderately brisk pace, improved white matter plasticity on MRI scans and improved cognition.

Recently, in the piece titled, “Not Forgetting Names at Weddings and Parties” I wrote how the troika of physical activity, good sleep and sensible eating (predominantly plant-based food) and coffee reduce dementia risk.

Last month, Yoon M and colleagues published a paper in JAMA Open [1], where they studied a retrospective cohort of 62,286 individuals aged 65 or older in South Korea, followed for 5 years, to examine the association between physical activity and dementia.

We know that moderate to vigorous physical activity protects against cognition loss, but what this study shows is that even mild / light physical activity of 1-299 MET-mins/week reduces the incidence of dementia as compared to those who are inactive. The more the physical activity, the better is the protection.

4000 steps a day at a mild to moderate pace would take around 45 minutes or so, and imply an energy expenditure of around 150 MET-mins/day. What this study shows that even walking 4000 steps, which come to around 3.2 to 3.5 km, twice a week, can protect against cognition loss.

So basically, while more is good, even minimal to mild physical activity, whether it is light yoga, or walking (the two least strenuous activities) will likely help reduce the incidence of dementia.

What does this mean for you and I? So many of us are constantly looking for magic pills to help us live long, healthy. We keep trying different diets and superfoods and supplements in the hope that these will help reduce our risk of disease and increase our healthspan and lifespan. Guess what. That magic pill is right in front of us…leisure-time physical activity…the cornerstone of our atmasvasth quest to live long, healthy. A little something…every day.

Footnotes

1. Yoon M et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(12):e2138526

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AtmasvasthBhavin Jankharia