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Exercise Means Feel The Burn, Zap The Heartburn
If you’ve started off 2012 with resolutions to eat better and exercise more, no doubt you’re being congratulated for taking steps to improve your heart’s health. But while your ticker may be pleased with the new regimen, it’s hardly the only beneficiary.
Exercise and diet are two major factors that affect digestive health as well. In fact, a team of French physicians found that moderate exercise, which they defined as little as taking a brisk 30-minute walk five times a week, or jogging for 20 minutes three times (or more) a week, really can make a difference. And, they added, more is better, so use these as a starting point for your own regimen.
But like anything else, the wrong kind of exercise can cause more problems than it relieves. If you’ve been suffering from heartburn, or GERD, here are a few tips to make sure you don’t make things worse:
- Eat something soothing, like a banana or yogurt, before working out.
- Test different workouts, such as running vs. yoga, to see which ones cause stomach upset.
- Review your diet to see what foods are causing problems if eaten even a few hours before working out.
Need more motivation? More than three dozen studies indicate that exercise can lower your risk of colon cancer by 20 percent or more, so now’s the perfect time to get up and get moving. And with a little pre-planning, your workout will benefit your heart, and the only burn you feel will be in tired, healthy muscles.