Unhealthy diets are the greatest risk factor for a comprimised health and well-being, but lack of exercise plays a significant role as well.
Physical activity* can improve:
muscle mass,
strength, balance, and mobility,
decrease the risk of falls and potential fractures, while helping to minimize bone loss.
Exercise can improve cognition, enhance mood, successfully treat depression, improve erectile function in men, and generally improve quality of life*.
The evidence supporting the overall health benefits of physical activity are overwhelming.
Exercise is medicine.
Aerobic exercise (like walking, cycling, swimming, running, ...) can induce autophagy**, lower inflammation, decrease DNA damage, and facilitate DNA repair.
In terms of life expectancy: regular exercise in general beats sedentary lifestyles.
Insulin sensitivity reflects how effectively cells respond to insulin. Low insulin sensitivity (insulin resistance) means your cells are less responsive, which can mean an increased risk of Diabetes Type II.
Just one exercise session can improve insulin sensitivity for up to 17 hours.
Better than drugs
Exercise is such powerful medicine that researchers at Stanford and the London School found that exercise may work as well as drugs for patients with coronary heart disease, heart failure, and pre-diabetes, and even better than some medications for stroke.
Walking is among the safest of physical activities, averaging only about one injury per thousand hours.
*Randomized controlled trials of older adults
General source - and also showing list all the consulted sources: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/exercise-is-medicine/
**Autophagy is a cellular process where the body's cells break down and recycle damaged or unnecessary components. It's a natural, conserved mechanism for cellular maintenance and survival, essentially acting as a cellular recycling system. This process helps remove pathogens like viruses and bacteria, and can be triggered by nutrient or oxygen deprivation, cell damage, or stress.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/24058-autophagy