The Miracle Pill

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This book is pretty life-changing – encouraging, optimistic, rich with information. It got me off the sofa.' Jeremy Vine Four in ten British adults, and 80% of children, are so sedentary they don’t meet even the minimum recommended levels for movement. What’s going on? What is the 'miracle pill', the simple lifestyle change with such enormous health benefits that, if it was turned into a drug, would be the most valuable drug in the world? The answer is movement and the good news is that it's free, easy and available to everyone. This book is pretty life-changing - encouraging, optimistic, rich with information. It got me off the sofa.' Jeremy Vine

I found myself itching to exercise as I read through the book, which can only be a good thing! I’ve cycled, jogged and even completed press-ups and star jumps after some of the chapters!However bleak the situation might seem, the author shows that countries can do better! I enjoyed the examples of the Netherlands and Denmark which developed infrastructure to allow people to move easily by bike or by foot. Who and how much they move is not (just) a personal choice but a consequence of governmental decisions. The environment we live in determines the opportunities and norms when it comes to daily physical movement. These opportunities for daily movement have been drastically reduced with the introduction of cars, and the ensuing infrastructure change that favours cars as the ultimate form of transport.

The answer is simple: activity became exercise. What for centuries was universal and everyday has become the fetishised pursuit of a minority, whether the superhuman feats of elite athletes, or a chore slotted into busy schedules. Yes, most people know physical activity is good for us. And yet 1.5 billion people around the world are so inactive they are at greater risk of everything from heart disease to diabetes, cancer, arthritis and depression, even dementia. Sedentary living now kills more people than obesity, despite receiving much less attention, and is causing a pandemic of chronic ill health many experts predict could soon bankrupt the NHS. What is the miracle pill, the simple lifestyle change with such enormous health benefits that, if it was turned into a drug, would be the most valuable drug in the world? The answer is movement and the good news is that its free, easy and available to everyone. This book also touches upon the discussion of the nanny state. It could be summed up by saying that whether we want to or not governmental decisions will have an impact on our life. So why not let it have a positive impact? For people to move more, they first need the ability to do so and preferably movement as the healthiest choice is the easiest choice to make or at least equally easy as the other ones. That way the government is not forcing people but merely allowing movement to be possible and easy to do. If we can find a way to add movement to our routines it will be easier to develop and maintain the habit of moving. To do that most effectively means finding a movement we enjoy. Taking a walk after a meal if great! Riding a bicycle to work or the store is excellent! Using the stairs instead of the elevator is highly recommended! Easy. So, basically, here's the thing the book is pushing: moving more improves our health. Little things like walking and riding bikes—and sitting less—will do wonders to help our health in ways we can't imagine. Essentially, he argues that if we could take an expensive pill that would have the same impact, we all would. So why not do the free, natural thing?Despite the somewhat misleading title (it's NOT about pharmaceuticals), I found this work engaging if occasionally repetitive. The message, however, is worth repeating - move or die. How did we get here? Daily, constant exertion was an integral part of humanity for millennia, but in just a few decades movement was virtually designed out of people’s lives through transformed workplaces, the dominance of the car, and a built environment which encourages people to be static. This book ispretty life-changing encouraging,optimistic, richwith information.It got me off the sofa. Jeremy Vine How did we get here? Daily, constant exertion was an integral part of humanity for millennia, but in just a few decades movement was virtually designed out of people's lives throughtransformed workplaces, the dominance of the car, and a built environment which encourages people to be static. This book is pretty life-changing – encouraging, optimistic, rich with information. It got me off the sofa.' Jeremy Vine

The answer is simple: activity became exercise. What for centuries was universal and everyday has become the fetishised pursuit of a minority, whether the superhuman feats of elite athletes, or a chore slotted into busy schedules. Yes, most people know physical activity is good for us. And yet 1.5 billion people around the world are so inactive they are at greater risk of everything from heart disease to diabetes, cancer, arthritis and depression, even dementia . Sedentary living now kills more people than obesity , despite receiving much less attention, and is causing a pandemic of chronic ill health many experts predict could soon bankrupt the NHS. That boils down to this - for health and longevity it is important that we move our bodies by walking, bicycling, jogging, running, etc. That movement doesn't have to be strenuous, it just has to raise our heart rate a little. And, it doesn't have to be hours long sessions at the gym; just getting up once an hour to walk a bit is helpful. Four in ten British adults, and 80% of children, are so sedentary they don't meet even the minimum recommended levels for movement. What's going on? A great book to finish the year on! Peter Walker does an excellent job at highlighting just how important it is to get up and get active…it really is the miracle pill that everyone has access to but often doesn’t take advantage of. How did we get here? Daily, constant exertion was an integral part of humanity for millennia, but in just a few decades movement was virtually designed out of people’s lives through transformed workplaces, the dominance of the car, and a built environment which encourages people to be static.Peter explains how there’s many different forces causing us to want to be active or inactive; that importantly it’s not all just a simple personal choice. Often the environment we live in has a huge effect on how we live. He talks about the need for governments to step up and take a more leading role in nudging people to be more active. I completely agree with. Whilst people should be able to choose, the healthiest choice should be the easiest choice. Peter also encourages all of us to seek out opportunities to be more active in our daily lives, seeing it as building up health dividends for later in life. My wife always says we need to make time for exercise now or make time for ill health when we’re older. This is so true and a key message in this book!

How did we get here? Daily, constant exertion was an integral part of humanity for millennia, but in just a few decades movement was virtually designed out of people's lives through transformed workplaces, the dominance of the car, and a built environment which encourages people to be static.