Get a New Best Friend
By Jillian Michaels
You don’t have to jettison your old best friend, but studies
show that owning a pet can help you lose weight, lower blood pressure, and
reduce stress levels. These are not small side effects but rather dramatic
ones. For each of these issues, pets may be even better than drugs. (This is probably why I have three dogs, two
horses, and a bird.) A study at the
University of Buffalo compared two groups of hypertensive New York
stockbrokers: one group had no pets, while the other group took in dogs and
cats after being pet- less for five years.
Those with pets were found to have lower blood pressure and heart rates
than those without. The researcher
seemed to find that the drugs normally used to control and reduce blood
pressure weren't quite as effective as animals. (The great part about this
story is that many in the pet less group went out and got pets after they heard
the results.)
Another study, conducted at the University of Missouri at
Columbia, discovered that obese, sedentary individual who walked a dog - their own
or one they borrowed - for 20 minutes 4 day a week, lost more weight than those
who walked alone. They lost 14 more pounds per person over a one-year period
without even dieting. And one more:
researchers at the University of Victoria in British Colombia found that of 351
participants, those who owned dogs walked, on average, 300 minutes per week,
while non- dog owners walked only 168 minutes per week.
Okay, this is probably more research than you ever wanted to
hear, and I’m sorry to bombard you, but I’m pretty passionate about this
one. If you already own a pet – a dog or
otherwise – you already know you can’t live without it. If you don’t, consider adopting one. You’ll
be saving a life, and it can do miracles for your health, mental state, and
waistline.
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