Study: People who walk fast are smarter and age slower

study confirmed
Those who walk faster are smarter and age more slowly

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Somehow we always suspected it, now a study has confirmed it: People who walk faster are actually smarter than those who walk more slowly. And they age slower!

Do you know that too: You are on foot, and in front of you people are strolling very slowly, as if they had all the time in the world? If you’re one of those people who can get pretty upset about this, we have good news for you. Because at least there’s scientific evidence that you’re smarter than the slinky people before you – and that you don’t age as fast as they do.

Large-scale study over 40 years on walking speed and the physical and mental aging process

One A study by the US Duke University examined a group of more than 900 New Zealanders over a period of 40 years and related their walking speed to intelligence and the cognitive and physical aging process. Especially at the age of 45 there are big differences between the slow and faster walkers.

The result: people who walk more slowly, according to MRIs of their brains, mentally age faster, show poorer cognitive abilities and have a lower IQ on average. They were also in worse physical shape than the faster paced comparison group: their lungs, teeth and immune system were in poorer shape.

Apparently, people who walk faster age more slowly – and are smarter

The researchers were surprised by the result: “Doctors know that slow-walkers in their 70s and 80s often die earlier than faster-walkers of the same age,” explains Terrie E. Moffitt, one of the authors of the project. “But for this study, we looked at the age range from kindergarten to middle age and found that walking slowly is a red flag decades before old age.”

So the study is good news for the impatient among us (guilty!) and shows that brisk walking can be a sign of a younger brain and healthier body. But maybe we can – in addition to the joy of this knowledge – also manage to be a little more forgiving and to exercise patience. A lower blood pressure is also important for your health!

Source used: businessinsider.com

Bridget

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