The weather is getting cooler everyday. Al-Khobar corniche is now always crowded with joggers, brisk walkers, bikers, and picnickers; a familiar sight in the morning and evening time.
Brisk walking and running are exercises very popular among expats here in the Eastern Province, exercises which help in balancing a high-fat diet. As far as I know, both help develop extra routes of circulation for blood to flow through, while a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet tends to close normal routes off.
According to Michio Kushi, author of the book, The Microbiotic Way, jogging increases circulatory capacity and may reduce the risks associated with eating the modern diet. Unfortunately, jogging has some drawbacks. While for a period of time it may be a balancing form of exercise for the heart and circulation, in the short, it tends to unevenly stress the heart and other body parts and systems. Although, some people can enjoy jogging or running, they are frequently halted by back problems, bone and joint disorders, kidney damage due to the shock of pounding up and down while running.
In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "the sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises, walking is the best." The rewards of just plain walking equal those that can be obtained from any other exercise, with half the risk of injury or exhaustion.
