Take 100 steps after dinners, have a life of 99 years
饭后百步走，活到九十九
Walking is a traditional health-building method in China. The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic of Medicine (Huang Di Neijing) encourages people to get up early and have a walk in the courtyard in the spring season (Chapter 2 of Suwen: The art of life through the four seasons). Sun Simiao, a famous Chinese doctor of the Tang Dynasty, also advocated that walking is good for health.
It is sure that persistence in walking could guarantee a healthier body and a longer life. According to TCM, in a relaxed and smooth mood, walking can make qi and blood flow smoothly and channels become unimpeded, lubricate joints and conserve muscles, ensure clear consciousness and benefit the five internal organs. In terms of modern medicine, like other types of weight-bearing exercises, walking has a variety of valuable physical benefits such as assisting in making the heart and lungs perform more efficiently, keeping blood pressure properly regulated, decreasing the level of artery-clogging blood fats while increasing the level of high-density lipoproteins (the "good" HDL cholesterol), reducing the odds of developing heart disease, firming and shaping up muscles, relieving tension and raising one's energy level. Walking also aids in weight loss, strengthening bones, and may serve to halt or lessen the degree of severity of osteoporosis. Walking also frees the mind for creative thought. Many walkers possess a belief similar to that of Henry David Thoreau, who once said, "Methinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow." Akin to Thoreau, these walkers state that they do their most productive thinking while walking and are better able to solve complex problems.
As one of the body's most natural forms of exercise, walking can be done at anytime, but as this Chinese medical aphorism suggests, a brisk walking after dinner is more important. The reason is that, after the hard work of a day, we have time to cook delicious food and usually eat too much, and then sit down to watch TV or even go to sleep directly. Such a lifestyle constitutes the main cause of obesity, arteriosclerosis, and hypertension and diabetes, which are among the leading risk factors of heart attack and stroke. Walking burns approximately the same amount of calories per mile as does running, which is absolutely not applicable when the stomach is full. Brisk walking one mile in 15 minutes burns just about the same number of calories as jogging an equal distance in 8 1/2 minutes. In weight-bearing activities like walking, heavier individuals will burn more calories than lighter persons. For example, studies show that a 110-pound person burns about half as many calories as a 216 pound person walking at the same pace for the same distance. Therefore, walking done on regular schedule after dinners (30-45 minutes after eating) offers effective protection against heart attack and stroke, the two major killers of the moderns.
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