Study confirms: Those who walk faster are more intelligent and age more slowly
We always suspected it, and now a study has confirmed it: people who walk faster are actually smarter than those who walk slower. And they age more slowly!
Have you ever been there before: you're out walking and there are people strolling along really slowly in front of you, as if they had all the time in the world? If you're one of those people who gets really annoyed by this, we have good news for you. Because at least there is scientific proof that you are more intelligent than the leisurely, creeping people in front of you - and that you don't age as quickly as they do.
Large-scale study over 40 years on walking speed and the physical and mental aging processA study by Duke University in the US examined a group of more than 900 New Zealanders over a period of 40 years, comparing their walking speed with their intelligence and the cognitive and physical aging process. Large differences were found between the slow and faster walking subjects, especially at the age of 45.
The result: According to MRI scans of their brains, people who walk more slowly age mentally faster, show poorer cognitive abilities and have a lower IQ on average. They were also in worse physical shape than the comparison group that walked faster: their lungs, teeth and immune system were in worse shape.
People who walk faster appear to age more slowly – and are smarterThe researchers were surprised by the result: "Doctors know that slow-walking people in their 70s and 80s often die earlier than faster-walking people 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 slow walking is a warning sign decades before old age."
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So the study is good news for the impatient among us (guilty!) and shows that walking fast can be a sign of a younger brain and a healthier body. But perhaps, as well as being happy about this discovery, we can also learn to be a little more forgiving and patient. Lower blood pressure is also important for health.
mbl Brigitte
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