Improved Immune Function

One of the best ways to stay healthy throughout your lifetime is to adhere to a regular exercise routine. Anecdotal reports and scientific research are increasingly showing that moderate training boosts immune function and may even prevent cancer. You can define regular exercise as any activity you do outside of your normal everyday functions. You can strength train, walk, or play softball, as long as you incorporate it into your lifestyle so that it becomes almost a daily habit. Such activities produce health benefits for many reasons. Regular exercise usually decreases body fat, which is strongly associated with certain cancers, mainly colon cancer. In addition, regular exercise increases bowel movements, which can also decrease the risk of colon cancer. Regular exercise decreases the body's susceptibility to environmentally found estrogens, which can increase the risk for breast cancer. Research has suggested that physical inactivity reduces insulin sensitivity, which leads to a friendly environment for disease.

Regular, moderate exercise can also boost the body's natural immunity. Realize, however, that excessive exercise has virtually the opposite effect on the body's immune system. Repeated bouts of high-intensity or endurance exercise without rest and recuperation periods may be more detrimental to the immune system and a person's health status than being a couch potato. Clearly, having a well-structured and organized plan for your fitness goals is the best way to stay healthy.