WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Walking around 7,000 steps a day may be enough to boost your brain health and lower the risk of several major diseases, a new study suggests.
The research, published in The Lancet Public Health, also found that people who walked this much had lower chances of getting cancer, heart disease, and dementia.
To reach this conclusion, researchers reviewed 31 different studies that looked at how step count affects health issues like heart problems, diabetes, depression, dementia, and early death.
They found that people who walked 7,000 steps daily had a 47 percent lower risk of dying early compared to those who only walked 2,000 steps. They also had a 25 percent lower risk of heart disease and a 38 percent lower risk of dementia.
'We have this perception we should be doing 10,000 steps a day,' said lead author Dr Melody Ding, 'but it's not evidence based'.
Even walking around 4,000 steps a day was found to be better than very low activity levels. However, the benefits mostly leveled off after 7,000 steps, though walking more still had added benefits for heart health.
The researchers noted that while some numbers might not be exact due to fewer studies on certain topics, the overall message is clear that even a moderate amount of daily walking can improve health.
'More than 7k doesn't do harm, and may even offer some additional benefits,' Ding said in an email to CNN. 'If one is already very active and doing 10+k a day, they definitely don't need to hold back and go back to 7k!'
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