Just 20 Minutes Of Exercise Could Ward Off Depression
July 26, 2023 5:44PM CDT
The road curves through rural fields, near Ljubljana
- We know that working out can boost our mood, but new research finds that it doesn’t take much exercise to see mental health benefits.
- Researchers wanted to figure out how much exercise you’d need to do to see mental health benefits, specifically lowering depressive symptoms. Using data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging, they found that doing just 20 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, like brisk walking, is all it takes. Doing that for five days a week is associated with a 16% lower rate of depressive symptoms and a 43% lower risk of major depression.
- But it gets even better, as the more participants worked out, the more benefits they felt. Those who worked out for longer amounts of time had a bigger reduction in depression risk and depressive symptoms.
- Source: Mind Body Green
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