| Sunlight. | | | | prescribed walks at an altitude of between |
| | | | 1400m and 2000m. Exercise at altitude |
| 1 in 50 people in the UK suffer from seasonal | | | | improves heart function and circulation, |
| affective disorder which is a type of | | | | lowers blood pressure and burns calories. |
| depression which commonly occurs during the | | | | There was also an increased number of young |
| winter months when the days are shorter. SADs | | | | red blood cells. |
| can vary from mild winter blues to a more | | | | |
| severe form where people can't function in | | | | Fresh Air. |
| the winter without treatment. So get | | | | |
| treatment and get up on the mountain. You may | | | | Spending time in the great outdoors helps to |
| get depressed about the cost of a beer on the | | | | prevent disease and boost recovery. You can |
| slopes, but that's not quite the same thing. | | | | avoid the pretty nasty particles which float |
| | | | around in the urban air. According to some |
| Adrenalin. | | | | Harvard boffins in their Six Cities 1993 |
| | | | study those people living in the most |
| What safer, or better, way of raising your | | | | polluted cities have a 26% greater risk of |
| adrenalin than searching out the steepest | | | | dying young than those in the cleanest. So |
| black run you can find, or something just a | | | | give yourself a break from the congested |
| little bit beyond your normal comfort zone. | | | | traffic and polluted air and breath in that |
| The adrenalin surge will activate the beta | | | | fresh, crisp, revitalizing mountain air. |
| receptors in your nervous system causing your | | | | |
| heart to beat faster and increasing air to | | | | Learning. |
| the lungs. This stimulates the brain, and the | | | | |
| endorphin rush of relief when it's over, will | | | | Learning is good for us. Your parents told |
| make you feel like a super human after every | | | | you so and they were right, but they and you |
| run. | | | | need to heed that advice. Learning new skills |
| | | | later in life can slow down the onset of |
| Altitude. | | | | dementia. Attempting challenges such as |
| | | | learning a foreign language - which you can |
| Just being at altitude can make you thin and | | | | practice at the bar - or new skills, such as |
| fit. A couple of years ago the Austrian | | | | skiing, will reduce the risk of getting age |
| Moderate Altitude Study was carried out. Men | | | | related symptoms and diseases such as |
| who were overweight and suffered from high | | | | Alzheimer?s. |
| blood pressure and high cholesterol were | | | | |