This 11-Minute Ritual Could Reduce Your Risk of Cancer

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What if I told you there was a pill you could take every day that would lower your risk of heart disease, prevent multiple types of cancer, and even reduce your odds of an early death? That pill doesn’t exist (yet), but in one of the largest studies to date, Cambridge University researchers found the next-best thing: 11 minutes of daily physical activity.

You read that correctly. Just over 10 minutes of walking, jogging, playing sports, exercising, or otherwise being active—basically anything other than sitting or lying down—reduced the risk of cancer by 10 percent, heart disease by 19 percent, and death by any cause by 23 percent, compared to no activity. These results came from a meta-analysis of studies that looked at more than 30 million people in total and was published on Feb. 28 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

“We know that physical activity, such as walking or cycling, is good for you, especially if you feel it raises your heart rate,” study co-author and Cambridge University public health modeling researcher James Woodcock said in a press release. “But what we’ve found is there are substantial benefits to heart health and reducing your risk of cancer even if you can only manage 10 minutes every day.”