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mattjshermandotcom t1_isasv3y wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Scientists researching possible candidates for treating Alzheimer's disease found exercise outperformed all tested drugs for the ability to reverse dysregulated gene expression. by shadesofaltruism

Because it's the one thing that is required and that hardly anyone wants to do. Out of all of the people I have known the amount of people that regularly exercise is at most 5%. The amount of people eating a plant based diet, or at least considering their diet at all, is about the same.

The problem is that in nature, as hunter-gatherers, these issues weren't present b/c we were forced to exercise, for survival, and our diets had limited processing and more fiber. The meat was tougher, hence the need for cooking, and it was also leaner.

What's funny to me is that once you are an "exerciser" you can see it in the face shape/color of people. You can tell when someone is just thin from not eating but still in weird way "thin flabby" and in poor muscular health. You can tell when someone has good cardiovascular health and you can also tell when someone has poor CV health because they only lift weights and can't run a mile.

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historical_regret2 t1_isbepgx wrote

“Hardly anyone wants to do it.”

The effect of socialization is huge. In my circles, virtually everyone exercises - I’d say >80%. It’s the default.

Edit: When I go back home to a rural/semi-rural area where I grew up, and obesity is rampant and virtually nobody exercises, the way they treat exercise is just perverse. Virtually all of their lives is set up to avoid raising their heart rate above resting. The default weekend is couches and TVs. Anything that raises your heart rate is to be bitched about to no end - having to walk "too far" across a parking lot, having to mow the lawn, etc. Exercise, at best, is for very young kids - once you hit adulthood, you never run five consecutive steps again. And exercise for health's sake, if it ever happens, only happens when it is prescribed by a doctor - for men, often not until heart problems arise or physiotherapy is necessary.

I went back over the holidays a few years back and was amazed at how the local gym/weight room was virtually empty on a regular evening. Had the whole place practically to myself. Went to grab groceries afterward and the store was packed with people who were obese, gray-skinned, and who frankly looked years if not decades older than they were. Guys my age - and I'm middle-aged - legitimately look like they could be my father, and not in a good way. In a fat, gray, over-the-hill way. It's honestly pathetic and I can't help but see it as both a symptom and cause of national decline - you cannot have vast swaths of the population be so physically unwell and miserable and prematurely old and expect to have a healthy, happy society.

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[deleted] t1_isb0dzq wrote

I like to think my job is my workout which it is I walk miles and miles in a day and lift heavy things. Climb up and down stairs and ladders. So I try

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dontknowhatitmeans t1_isblr7v wrote

What job is that? I was about to say mailman but can't recall lifting heavy things being part of the job description.

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Teddy_Icewater t1_isb18cm wrote

5%?? Wow that's incredibly low. I guess I'm lucky to have an active social circle.

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