After being printed 5 years ago I bet your doctor still doesn't prescribe walking in nature as a way to reduce your blood pressure. How does your doctor stay up in the latest research? That answer will tell you about their competence or lack of it.
Acute effects of walking in forest environments on cardiovascular and metabolic parameters
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2011 Nov;111(11):2845-53. doi: 10.1007/s00421-011-1918-z. Epub 2011 Mar 23.
Li Q1, Otsuka T, Kobayashi M, Wakayama Y, Inagaki H, Katsumata M, Hirata Y, Li Y, Hirata K, Shimizu T, Suzuki H, Kawada T, Kagawa T.
Abstract
We
previously found that forest environments reduced stress hormones such
as adrenaline and noradrenaline and showed the relaxing effect both in
male and female subjects. In the present study, we investigated the
effects of walking under forest environments on cardiovascular and
metabolic parameters. Sixteen healthy male subjects (mean age
57.4 ± 11.6 years) were selected after obtaining informed consent. The
subjects took day trips to a forest park in the suburbs of Tokyo and to
an urban area of Tokyo as a control in September 2010. On both trips,
they walked for 2 h in the morning and afternoon on a Sunday. Blood and
urine were sampled on the morning before each trip and after each trip.
Blood pressure was measured on the morning (0800) before each trip, at
noon (1300), in the afternoon (1600) during each trip, and on the
morning (0800) after each trip. The day trip to the forest park
significantly reduced blood pressure and urinary noradrenaline and
dopamine levels and significantly increased serum adiponectin and
dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) levels. Walking exercise also
reduced the levels of serum N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide
(NT-proBNP) and urinary dopamine. Taken together, habitual walking in
forest environments may lower blood pressure by reducing sympathetic
nerve activity and have beneficial effects on blood adiponectin and
DHEA-S levels, and habitual walking exercise may have beneficial effects
on blood NT-proBNP levels.
- PMID:
- 21431424
- DOI:
- 10.1007/s00421-011-1918-z
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