Is Exercise "The Magic Pill" to Cure and Prevent Chronic Disease?

Getting sick when the weather's nice is the worst. Yes, getting sick anytime of the year is pretty bad, but when you're stuck indoors on a beautiful day, the sound of children playing and the ice cream truck making its rounds, it's downright hellish.

That was me yesterday. I was home sick, and miserable I certainly was. Cough, sore throat, achy limbs...you name it. All the symptoms of a warm-weather cold were present. And the icing on the very unappetizing cake was that the weather. was. gorgeous. So what if I would have been stuck in my office most of the day?! The point was that I was inside and sick and it seemed like everyone else in the world was outside, having fun, and enjoying in spite of me.

This girl looks like I felt yesterday...

Dramatic, much?! Perhaps, but the worst thing about being sick, at least as far as I'm concerned, isn't actually being sick, or even being cooped up inside on a lovely day: it's not being able to train. It's not being able to move my body in the ways that I have grown accustomed. It's feeling like my body is rebelling against me and refusing to cooperate. Of course, I know that my body is just taking the time that it needs to rest and rejuvenate. It does a hell of  a lot for me, and I should be appreciative of that. And to go one step further, I should appreciate the fact that once my body has rested and has recharged, it will be there once again to support my training and all my fitness endeavors.

All this to say that as much as it pains me to take time off from my training to recover from an illness, I'm reminded of the powers that exercise has to actually prevent, and in some cases, cure, illness entirely. Sure, exercise won't keep me catching the occasional cold, but it can help prevent heart disease by lowering my bad cholesterol and blood pressure; help stabilize my blood sugar to decrease the likelihood of developing diabetes; improve my mood and concentration; and even help me sleep better which gives my immunity a huge boost. The benefits of regular exercise are numerous and yet "Lack of fitness is the public health epidemic of our time," at least according to Bob Sallis, former president of the American College of Sports Medicine.

In this article, written by sports medicine physician and 11-time Ironman athlete, Dr. Jordan Metzl, Metzl argues that incentivizing exercise may be the key to reducing the rates of chronic disease in this country, as well as relieving the enormous cost of caring for those suffering from such diseases with our current health care system. While it may not be "a magic pill," science-based evidence suggests that exercise can help alleviate numerous symptoms of chronic disease, as well as aid in prevention and treatment.