Is the best time to walk in the morning to lose weight and prevent cancer? Or at night?

There are many benefits of brisk walking, including eliminating fatigue, relieving mental stress, promoting metabolism, improving blood lipids, and helping to burn fat and lose weight. Moderate-intensity walking exercises can prompt the body to secrete more interferon, thereby improving the body's ability to prevent and fight cancer. However, when it comes to walking, what is the best time? Is the best time to walk early in the morning or at night?

Is exercising in the morning good for health? Walking health experts: 7 to 9 pm is better

Influenced by the concepts of “A day’s plan begins in the morning” and “Get up at the crack of dawn”, many people are keen on morning exercises. However, Lin Zheng, who once suffered from high blood pressure, high blood lipids and coronary heart disease, realized that the best time for walking to maintain health is at night after his blood pressure and blood lipids returned to normal after one year of walking exercise.

In the book "Walking is the King of Health" co-authored with internal medicine physician Lin Qing, "walking expert" Lin Zheng mentioned that if you want to achieve the effect of preventing and curing diseases through health-preserving walking exercises, you need to choose the best time according to your age and physical condition; but generally speaking, the best time for walking exercise every day is from 3 pm to 9 pm, and the best time is from 7 pm to 9 pm.

Two reasons for walking at night: good physiological state + more oxygen

He explained that the short two hours between 7pm and 9pm are the time when the human body's vital signs are at their strongest and when the physiological state is the best. During this time range, the human body's muscles and joints are more flexible, blood pressure and heart rate are relatively stable, and the nervous system is efficient and sensitive, able to smoothly adjust the body to adapt to environmental changes.

In addition, green plants in parks and woods carry out photosynthesis under the sunlight during the day, absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen; at night they absorb oxygen and release carbon dioxide. The continuous release of oxygen through photosynthesis during the day leads to high levels of oxygen and negative ions in the air, which is one of the main reasons why 7pm to 9pm becomes the golden time for walking.

5 reasons not to walk in the morning

Why is it not advisable to walk in the early morning? Lin Zheng listed five major reasons and reminded that the god of death often waves at middle-aged and elderly people and patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases around early morning, so they should adjust the time for walking exercise.

5 Reasons Not to Exercise in the Early Morning

1. Due to the effect of green plants absorbing oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide at night, the accumulated carbon dioxide in parks and woods increases in the early morning, making it not suitable for exercise. Traditional Chinese medicine even believes that exercising in the morning, when Yang energy has not yet been generated, will have an adverse effect on the body.

2. When we just wake up in the morning, the physiological functions of the human nervous system and various organs are not in good condition.

3. In the early morning after a night's sleep, the human body loses more water, blood concentration increases, the heart rate slows down, the blood flow is slower, and the entire vital signs are more fragile and sensitive, making cardiovascular and cerebrovascular blockages more likely to occur. This is why myocardial infarction and cerebral stroke often occur in the early morning.

4. Research results from the American College of Cardiology show that exercise such as morning jogging can increase the risk of blood clots by up to 60%.

5. Patients with hypertension will experience a sharp rise in blood pressure in the early morning, so they are prone to cerebral stroke or cerebral hemorrhage if they do morning exercises.

Avoid exercising 1 hour before and after dinner to improve your health

However, it should be noted that even if exercising at night is more in line with health purposes, don't forget to avoid the 1 hour before and after dinner. Normally, the human body's blood sugar level is lower before meals. Exercising at this time may cause adverse reactions such as dizziness, blurred vision, and weak legs, and will cause a decrease in gastric acid secretion, which is not conducive to gastrointestinal digestion and absorption. Just after a meal, gastrointestinal motility speeds up and the blood demand is also greater. Exercise at this time will affect gastrointestinal blood supply and is not conducive to digestion and absorption, so walking is not suitable.