A new study shows that endurance exercise not only helps you feel younger, but can also make you look younger and even live longer. The study, conducted by McMaster University researchers, found that premature aging was completely prevented in nearly every organ in the bodies of mice that ran on a treadmill three times a week for five months.
“Exercise is truly the fountain of youth,” Adeel Safdar, lead author of the study concluded.
The mice involved in the study were genetically disadvantaged to age faster due to a genetic defect affecting their mitochondria. The mitochondria are responsible for generating energy for virtually every cell in the bodies of both humans and mice. Proper mitochondrial function is crucial to reducing morbidity and mortality in both mice and humans as well and exercise appears to be the best way to boost its function, the authors of the study say.
Despite their genetic disadvantage, the mice who engaged in endurance exercise three times per week looked just as young as healthy mice, whereas those mice who did not were balding, graying, physically inactive, and less fertile.
Other studies have tried to treat mice with exercise pills or reduce the animals’ caloric intakes to prevent premature aging, but both strategies were met with minimal success said Mark Tarnopolsky, principal investigator in the study.
“Many people falsely believe that the benefits of exercise will be found in a pill,” Tarnopolsky said. “We have clearly shown that there is no substitute for the ‘real thing’ of exercise when it comes to protection from aging.”
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