28 July 2023 , 14:47
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Having sex each day - even for just four minutes - could help significantly cut the risk of cancer, research suggests today.
Scientists examined the link between activities which make you huff and puff and use short bursts of energy, such as sex, and cancer rates.
Those in the study who complete such activities daily were markedly healthier than those who do not, the researcher discovered.
Other short bursts of things that make you huff and puff, like playing high-energy games with children and even housework, are also beneficial.
According to the study, a total of just four-and-a-half minutes of vigorous activity – done in bursts of around one minute each – during daily tasks could reduce the overall risk of cancer by 18 per cent, and the risk of some cancers linked to physical activity by up to 32 per cent.
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"It’s quite remarkable to see that upping the intensity of daily tasks for as little as four to five minutes a day, done in short bursts of around one minute each, is linked to an overall reduction in cancer risk by up to 18 per cent," Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, of University of Sydney, said.
Short bursts of power walking every day or carrying heavy shopping around the supermarket are believed to have same effect.
Lead author Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, of the Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Australia, said: "We know the majority of middle-aged people don’t regularly exercise, which puts them at increased cancer risk, but it’s only through the advent of wearable technology like activity trackers that we are able to look at the impact of short bursts of incidental physical activity done as part of daily living.
"It’s quite remarkable to see that upping the intensity of daily tasks for as little as four to five minutes a day, done in short bursts of around one minute each, is linked to an overall reduction in cancer risk by up to 18 per cent, and up to 32 per cent for cancer types linked to physical activity.”
Cancer types linked to physical activity are those where not exercising increases the risk of developing the disease. The cancers associated with physical activity included liver, lung, kidney, gastric cardia (a type of stomach cancer), endometrial, myeloid leukaemia, myeloma, colorectal, head and neck, bladder, breast and esophageal adenocarcinoma (cancer of the oesophagus).
Published in a medical journal, the study used data from wearable devices to track the daily activity of more than 22,000 people who do not exercise. Researchers then followed the group’s clinical health records for close to seven years to monitor for cancer.
They found that as few as four to five minutes of vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (Vilpa) was associated with a substantially lower cancer risk compared with those who undertook no Vilpa.