When it comes to
exercise, any form of exercise is good for you, and according to a report from
the National Institute on Aging, any kind of exercise will help extend your
life. The officials at the Institute are not just relying on common sense,
they’re basing their views on a study, a six year study of 302 people between
70 and 82. What they did was measure energy expenditure in a unique way. When
people exercise, they produce carbon dioxide which can be excreted in the
urine. In the study, the researchers had volunteers drink water containing two
harmless isotopes, oxygen 18 and hydrogen 2. Oxygen 18 is eliminated from the
body in water while hydrogen 2 is eliminated not only in water, but also in
carbon dioxide. This is how they were able to measure carbon dioxide. After six
years of research, they found death rates went down as daily energy expenditure
went up.
