Zorba Paster: Exercise Is Key To Feeling Better

I know what you’re thinking. Another column on exercise. You’re probably sick of it — all the talk as we start the New Year. Yet when new information comes out that just might help you get off your butt, I like to write about it. So here goes.

Yes, we know exercise reduces death from all causes, especially heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some forms of cancer. It can also improve your mental health.

But here’s the research. It’s a compendium of studies taking all the data, putting it in the pot and evaluating it to see what comes out. In total, 1.2 million people were in this research. That’s a lot of folks.

The study was from 2011 to 2015, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collected through the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. People took a weekly inventory of what they did, what they ate, whether they smoked, how much they exercised — the usual things. It also recorded how many days in the past month they had what you might call “mental health days,” most commonly depression, anxiety and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Folks who exercised, especially those who engaged regularly, had significantly fewer mental health days than those who didn’t. The exercises that topped the list were team sports, aerobic exercise and biking.

Researchers found that more exercise wasn’t necessarily better. Just doing something is what counted.

Whether middle class or poor, educated or not, smoker or non-smoker, normally healthy or having medical problems — all had better mental health with exercise.

My spin: It’s another reason to take up the banner of doing something. More than 10 years ago, I realized I was “allergic” to exercise. So for me, having a trainer work with me once a week has kept me regular. For others, it might be a class or a team sport.

Whatever it is, the days are getting longer and it’s time to shed the winter weight.