Pet Project for Anti-Aging
Walking the Dog is the Best Trick
Since the early 1980s, we've known that having a pet can add years to your life. Whether it’s a dog, cat, bird, or gerbil, contact with a pet decreases the heart rate, relaxes muscle tension, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, and reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Even watching fish in a tank lowers blood pressure. Pets have a comforting presence, provide entertainment, brighten the atmosphere and shift focus away from our problems. It has even been suggested that the type of frequencies found in a cat's purr can be good for healing. But more recent studies are showing that people with canine companions may achieve the highest physical benefits of all.
Dog Owners Don't Sit and Stay
A University of Victoria (British Columbia) project showed that dedicated dog owners spend more time exercising than their neighbors without dogs. And a study of 1,800 people in Australia proved that dog owners are seven times more likely to get the recommended level of exercise than those without dogs. The dog owners exercised an average of 55 minutes more each week. When you add this information to earlier studies indicating that dog owners not only visit the doctor 16% less often, but also have lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels compared to people who don't have dogs, it looks like dog lovers have been barking up the right tree when it comes to good health.
Unleash the Hounds
Walking a dog can be a great tool for mental fitness as well by increasing social interaction. After all, Fido is a perfect icebreaker, giving us the opportunity to meet and talk to other people. People who walk with dogs have far more positive encounters than those who walk alone. So if you're thinking of adding a pet to your life, there's more than one reason a dog is man's (and woman's) best friend.
Read more on the topic:
- Dog owners walk their way to fitness.
- Dog owners log more exercise time than their urban neighbors without dogs.
- The Power of Pets by Sally Abrahms
- The Benefits We Experience When Pets Are Beside Us
- Did you know your dog could help you live longer?
- Pet Owners Live Long and Healthy Lives
- Pet Owners Live Longer
- Dog-owners 'lead healthier lives' by Dr. June McNichola
