An easy habit to reduce your risk for depression.

This research was convincing because it involved 11,000 people who were followed for 50 years (Pinto Pereira SM, et al. 2014).

A sample of persons born in England, Scotland and Wales in a single week in March, 1958 were followed up to the age of 50 years. Depressive symptoms were measured and frequency of physical activity (times per week) were recorded at the age of 23, 33, 42 and 50 years.

It was concluded that physical activity may alleviate depressive symptoms.

Physical activity needs to be included in your lifestyle. It will make you feel better both physically and psychologically.

For those who don’t like to exercise, the good news is that numerous studies has documented that you don’t have to spend a lot of time exercising to receive a lot of benefits as long as you exercise at a high intensity.

Pinto Pereira SM¹, Geoffroy MC², Power C¹. Depressive Symptoms and Physical Activity During 3 Decades in Adult Life: Bidirectional Associations in a Prospective Cohort Study. JAMA Psychiatry. 2014 Oct 15. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.1240. [Epub ahead of print]