Obsession with exercise. Is it a healthy vice?
By Leticia Trejo
Have you ever had a friend who goes to the gym or jogging every day and even spends weekends exercising? If we dare to make the observation that he has become addicted to physical activity, he might say that at least his addiction is healthy. In this article we will examine the scientific reasons why excessive exercise is not healthy.
Body fat is the body’s most durable fuel. Muscle mass is the body’s most nutritious food. When there is a health emergency, the body takes the most nutritious element and stores the most durable one. For example, remember those old diets where the person ate only apples and water for more than 15 days? This nutrient deprivation caused the body to consume itself, reducing the muscle mass, but leaving the fat. The same happens when we perform an excess of physical activity. Once the nutrients of the day are consumed and are not replenished either with rest or proper nutrition, the body takes the muscle nutrients and leaves the fat as fuel for an emergency such as a long and difficult illness.
This means that with an excess of physical activity there is a loss of muscle mass and accumulation of fat deposits.
Then let’s consider the health of the kidneys. Imagine, dear reader, that your kidneys are a strainer like those we use in the kitchen to filter the syrup from pineapple juice. If the strainer is clogged by excess waste, its function is diminished. The same thing happens to the kidneys. Every activity of our day generates cellular waste, and every hormonal deployment becomes waste that goes into the bloodstream and then is filtered in the kidneys to remove this material in the urine. If we add two or three hours of intense exercise a day, it means that there will be an overproduction of cellular waste the kidneys will not be able to filter and it will begin to suffer damage in its important function. Jalisco has the most cases per capita of renal failure. It can take many years for a person to realize that their kidneys are damaged, it is not something that can be seen with a simple blood test.
Our vigorous friends should take note of some of the symptoms of kidney problems: very strong and unpleasant odor of urine, foam on the surface, very intense to dark yellow color. As well as severe muscle and joint pain, especially in the ankles, heels and toes and excessive exhaustion. If any of these symptoms are present the individual should visit a nephrologist (kidney specialist).
Our health and well-being needs balance; a sedentary lifestyle brings no good, but neither does excessive physical activity. I wish you a great weekend and a long and healthy life.
Translated by Christalle Dalsted
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