Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Why Walking Is The Superpower You Didn’t Know You Had with Professor Shane O’Mara #84

8 snips

Nov 20, 2019

In this enlightening discussion, Professor Shane O'Mara, an expert in neuroscience from Trinity College Dublin, explores the remarkable benefits of walking, celebrating his book 'In Praise of Walking.' He reveals how this simple activity enhances creativity, memory, and mental well-being while combating depression. O'Mara argues for redesigning urban spaces to encourage walking, highlighting how our sedentary lifestyles hinder our health. Listeners will gain insights into walking as a natural remedy, urging them to incorporate more steps into their daily lives.

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INSIGHT

Bipedalism's Evolutionary Advantage

Humans' bipedalism allows for greater range and caloric efficiency in food foraging than chimpanzees.
This efficiency, coupled with tool use and cooperative carrying, gave humans a unique ecological advantage.

INSIGHT

Walking and Global Domination

Walking, coupled with tool use and social cooperation, facilitated human expansion across the globe.
This ability to migrate in groups allowed humans to conquer diverse environments.

ANECDOTE

Car-Centric America vs. Walkable Europe

Rangan Chatterjee recounts struggling to navigate American cities due to their car-centric design.
He highlights the stark contrast with walkable European city centers.

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When was the last time you gave any real thought to walking? It’s so easy to put one foot in front of the other. Yet this unique, underrated activity sets us apart from other species, and brings incredible advantages – yes, superpowers – if we do it enough.

My guest on this week’s podcast is the neuroscientist Shane O’Mara, a professor of experimental brain research at Trinity College Dublin. After reading his remarkable new book, In Praise of Walking: The New Science of How We Walk And Why It’s Good For Us, I couldn’t wait to talk to him about the topics it raises. Shane has always been a keen walker and aims to clock 15,000 to 17,000 steps each day on his pedometer. But as we discuss, the positive effects of walking go way beyond the fitness benefits we all know about.

Walking helps more than our hearts and lungs, our muscles and posture, yet modern, sedentary lives mean we’re doing far less of it than nature intended. It can increase creativity and problem solving, lift our mood and protect us from depression. Shane reveals how it helps learning, memory and cognition and how it can slow and even reverse the functional ageing of the brain. All this science, he hopes, will help convince town planners and public health officials that we must redesign our environments with pedestrians in mind.

This is such an enlightening conversation and I know you’ll gain some fascinating new perspectives on how you could (and why you should) fit more walking into your life. Why not head out for a stroll as you listen?

Show notes available at drchatterjee.com/84

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DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.