Just 20 Minutes of Walking May Reduce Inflammation in Your Body

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Just 20 minutes of exercise may help fight inflammation in the body, a new study suggests.

In the study, 47 people walked on a treadmill at a brisk pace for 20 minutes, and had blood samples taken before and after this exercise session.

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"Each time we exercise, we are truly doing something good for our body on many levels, including at the immune cell level," study researcher Suzi Hong, a researcher of psychiatry and family medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, said in a statement. "The anti-inflammatory benefits of exercise have been known to researchers, but finding out how that process happens is the key to safely maximizing those benefits." [4 Easy Ways to Get More Exercise]

The new study revealed one way that exercise creates an anti-inflammatory effect. First, hormones produced during exercise, such as epinephrine and norepinephrine, activate receptors called beta-2 adrenergic receptors. These receptors are present on many cells, including immune cells, and it's this activation that leads to changes in the body's immune system response, including a decrease in cells producing TNF, the researchers said.

The researchers also stressed that the findings suggest you don't have to go all-out during exercise in order to experience anti-inflammatory effects. "Twenty minutes to half an hour of moderate exercise, including fast walking, appears to be sufficient," Hong said. "Feeling like a workout needs to be at a peak exertion level for a long duration can intimidate those who suffer from chronic inflammatory diseases and could greatly benefit from physical activity."

Rachael is a Live Science contributor, and was a former channel editor and senior writer for Live Science between 2010 and 2022. She has a master's degree in journalism from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She also holds a B.S. in molecular biology and an M.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. Her work has appeared in Scienceline, The Washington Post and Scientific American.