It may be fair to say we all wish a doctor could prescribe us a magical pill that was the equivalent of a good workout but alas sometimes the science just isn’t there yet.
But exercise is crucial to physical and mental health. Research has shown that physical activity reduces the risk of depression, anxiety, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and many cancers, and prevents early death.
The problem is in America, less than 5% of adults do at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day and only one in three get in the recommended amount of exercise a week. It’s similar in other parts of the Western world like the U.K. where about a quarter of men and women describe themselves as physically inactive.
And the lack of active adults is responsible for almost 10% of deaths in the United States and more than 2 million deaths globally each year.