ISSUE 6

Do you track how many steps you take daily? Thanks to marketing, many of us now use this to gauge if we’re taking the steps needed to support our health. What if we told you that those trackers are great, but you don’t have to use them to feel healthy. In reality, the 10,000 steps per day target was mostly a marketing scheme and does not tie to a specific study. We’re not saying 10,000 steps won’t yield health benefits, we’re simply saying it isn’t the golden number to achieve wellness.

This week we dive into the science behind steps. Why did we start tracking them? What are we hoping to achieve? What are ways we can achieve this goal with and without the aid of technology? Is our food impacting our ability to get the energy we need to be more active?

Food

Food companies fail to meet health commitments: Report

In short, it is unlikely that we can rely on Big Food for better food in the near future.

“The Access to Nutrition U.S. Index reveals the 11 largest U.S. food and beverage manufacturers are not making adequate progress on their commitments to make, market and sell healthy food and drinks.

While all companies have placed a greater focus on nutrition in their corporate strategies since the first index was released in 2018, their actual products have not become healthier, and they are not making sufficient efforts to safeguard children from the marketing of unhealthy products.”

Continue reading:

US Access to Nutrition Index 2022

Big CPGs have not been making food and drink healthier, study finds

Big Food’s Ambivalence: Seeking Profit and Responsibility for Health

Hungry and confused: The winding road to conscious eating

Half of consumers call healthy eating a top priority; one-third say sustainable eating is too. But to satisfy consumers’ commitment to eating more healthily, food producers and retailers need to get innovative.

Wellness

5 Simple and Realistic Ways to Be More Active in Your Busy, Everyday Life

Looking for easy ways to add more activity to your everyday life? Our latest blog shares 5 realistic tips for fitting in extra movement, from walking during phone calls to taking a brain break with a dance session. Incorporate these ideas into your daily routine and start feeling your best. Check out our blog for all the details.

Health

You deserve 30 minutes a day

Recent studies show that you don’t need to achieve 10k steps a day to improve wellness. These studies saw diminishing returns, fewer overall health benefits, beyond 7-8k steps. They also found that the biggest health benefits were when people went from under 3k steps to 4-5k steps per day. If that’s the case, what can you do to achieve this? Give yourself 30 minutes a day. Studies found that 30 minutes per day of moderate walking or exercise helped people to achieve 4-5k steps per day. To be clear, they did see benefits with additional steps, just not as drastic. If you’re already achieving more steps daily, congratulations, don’t stop what you’re doing. This is more to share that even small changes can have a big impact on wellness.

Sources:

Association of Step Volume and Intensity With All-Cause Mortality in Older Women

Association of Daily Step Count and Step Intensity With Mortality Among US Adults

Number of steps per day more important than step intensity

Continue reading:

How Many Steps Should I Take a Day?

Do We Really Need to Take 10,000 Steps a Day for Our Health?

Choose Joy

Walk with Jo

In the spirit of small steps, here’s something we’ve been enjoying lately as a fun way to give ourselves 30 minutes even when we really don’t want to. We love the variety and that we can do it with friends and family.

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The post ISSUE 6 – Small Steps, Big Changes: How 30 Minutes Can Transform Your Wellness appeared first on Gwell - Nutrition, Wellness, and Healthcare Advocacy.