Healthy living
Exercise and fitness
Brisk walking beats winter colds
Just half an hour a day of aerobic exercise may halve your risk of catching a cold
According to scientists at Cardiff's University's common Cold Centre, 'We are living in a golden age for respiratory viruses such as common cold and influenza. As our cities grow more and more crowded they provide an ideal environment for the viruses to jump from one nose to another with an almost limitless supply of new noses to infect.'
So far, years of work trying to develop effective treatments to prevent or cure cold symptoms have been largely ineffective, but a new study from researchers in Seattle finds regular exercise may keep infection at bay.
They asked a group of overweight, postmenopausal women to do 45 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise five times a week for a year. Most opted for brisk walking and, in fact, the majority of them actually only managed to do 30-minutes sessions. A control group did a stretching class once a week over the same 12-month period.
At the end of the study, a comparison showed that the stretching group had twice as many colds as the aerobic group. In fact, the authors note, the difference was still greater in the last three months of the study, when the stretchers got three times as many colds.
Although weight loss wasn't an objective in this particular study, the aerobics group did actually lose significant amounts of weight over the course of the year.
'This adds another good reason to put exercise on your to-do list, especially now that cold season is here,' said Dr Cornelia Ulrich, the paper's senior author from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
However, Ulrich is quick to point out that regular exercise in moderation - such as 30 to 45 minutes of brisk walking each day - is the key; other studies have shown that excessive, exhaustive exercise can deplete immune function and increase the risk of colds.
Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.