Even Walking 4,000 Steps Daily Can Significantly Lengthen Your Life? The More You Walk, The Better

Do you know how many steps you should be taking every day to start seeing the health benefits of walking? It’s lower than previously thought.

Walking is a great way to maintain your overall health and live longer. But how many steps you should take per day to start seeing the benefits of walking. The more you walk, the better, but even if you walk fewer than 5,000 steps a day, it can significantly help increase your longevity, says a new study.

According to the study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or any cause decreases significantly with every 500 to 1000 extra steps you take.

Walking at least 2337 steps a day could reduce your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, while walking 3967 steps daily can help reduce your risk of dying from any cause. The more the number of steps, the greater the health benefits. While an increase of 500 steps a day was associated with a 7% reduction in dying from cardiovascular disease, walking 1000 extra steps a day was associated with a 15% reduction in the risk of dying from any cause.

When it comes to the number of steps you should take every day, the researchers have not found an upper limit yet. According to the study, the health benefits continued to increase even if people walked as many as 20,000 steps a day.

The results are based on the analysis of 17 different studies including 226,889 people from around the world.

Everybody should walk at least 4,000 steps daily

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified insufficient physical activity as the fourth most common cause of death in the world, leading to 3.2 million deaths a year. It is estimated that more than a quarter of the world’s population live a sedentary lifestyle, which may contribute to cardiovascular disease and reduce lie expectancy.

People in higher income countries do less physical activity than those in low-income countries, and more women than men are affected by insufficient physical activity. Numerous studies have highlighted the benefits of walking. But the optimal number of steps people should take per day has not been clear yet.

The more you walk, the better, and this applies to everyone, irrespective of age and where you live, as per the new study.

The study noted that walking as little as 4,000 steps a day can significantly reduce deaths from any cause, but even fewer than 4000 steps a day can reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease.

Prof. Maciej Banach, who led the study, emphasized that importance of lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise, for reducing cardiovascular risk and prolonging lives.