I am very passionate about exercise because it has multiple effects outside of physical fitness like mental, social, and emotional benefits. I can’t imagine my life without daily exercise! To read more in-depth information, please refer to my previous blog.

Let’s decipher what are reliable versus unreliable sources when considering one’s health.

What to lean on (reliable sources):

These resources are peer reviewed and often authors of these articles have advanced degrees in what they are addressing usually in various health fields namely, Public Health, Kinesiology or Nursing for our instance.

The Mayo Clinic is a reliable source for medical information. They are a nonprofit organization committed to clinical practice, education and research providing expert, whole-person care to the community. This organization provides thousands of peer reviewed research articles along with educational opportunities in the medical field.

If you want to learn more about some of the benefits of physical activity addressed in my previous post, this organization has a great article where they break it down into, providing the 7 Benefits of Regular Exercise. Give it a read if you are still on the fence about the benefits of exercise, it has simple and great information on how exercise improves your life. It sure took me a while to agree to it.

National Center of Biotechnology Information, also known as (NCBI) or National Institute of Health (NIH) is another reliable source providing access to biomedical and genomic information. They provide research articles where scientists perform experiments regarding the particular topic at hand. This is a primary resource where the writer breaks down the outcomes and findings of the study at hand.

If you want to learn more about what the NCBI has to say about the Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence, read this reliable source. They confirmed that there is irrefutable evidence of the effectiveness of regular physical activity in the primary and secondary prevention of several chronic diseases and premature death. It’s a dry read but the takeaway is “Get up and exercise now!”

Center of Disease Control (CDC) is a very well-known resource in the health and public health field. This organization is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services. The CDC works to protect America’s health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the US. Whether the diseases start at home or abroad, are chronic or acute, curable or preventable, human error or deliberate attack, the CDC is your source for information.

To learn more about what this organization has to say about the effects of physical activity on your health, give it a read. This particular article addresses the effects physical activity has on physical aspects like (weight management), reduction in chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome (too much fat around your waist), reduce your risk of some cancers, strengthen your bones and muscles, and increase your chance of living longer. You’re body is begging you to get moving!

What NOT to lean on (unreliable sources):

Now let’s look at some sources that aren’t as reliable like social media sites. These sites often have skewed results because their content is often platformed to a specific audience. Most importantly researchers rarely account for them and the expert knowledge is not taken into consideration when producing posts or information. Some websites might even look legit, but they are missing a couple important aspects that make a website or article credible. This includes an author, date of research, credible sources cited, writing style, site design and domain. Websites like these that have “.com” can be purchased and used by any individual. Instead more credible sources often end in “.edu” or “.gov”.

Pinterest for example has wide variety of resources but most have no scientific basis, so you have to take the information with a grain of salt. Yes, Pinterest would have good ideas for catchy new exercise workouts, but they don’t know your medical condition, and instead reference the entire population. They grab your attention with pictures and graphs, but have no reliable sources.

Facebook is another website that I would not recommend. Mostly everyone reading this knows or has an idea of what Facebook is about. Often people use it to connect with old friends, plan events and see events going on the area. This by all means is not a great source to get reliable information because almost always Facebook contains opinions, not facts. Steer clear of Facebook for factual information on benefits of physical activities on your health. Instead, I would use FB to join up with friends to hike the new trails together. 

Websites like this may look reliable but do they check all the credible criteria boxes, I assume not. This article may have been published in what looks like a newspaper but is it written by expert, nope! 

Take Away

By now you are an expert in what to look for when reading a reliable source for the benefits of exercise. I hope you learned something new and will be putting the information to good use by spending more time outdoors for your overall health and wellbeing. Let the adventures begin and all the added benefits as well!