Walking your approach to a healthy heart?

The research we're .

Photo: Victor Cape/Thinkstock

Two latest studies show that folks who frequently commute by bike or bicycle for pleasure have a rather lower risk of heart disease than non-bikers.

In a study, November 1, 2016, Circulationtracked nearly 45,000 Danish adults (ages 50 to 65) who frequently biked, either to work or for fun. During the 20-year follow-up, cyclists had about 15 percent fewer heart attacks than non-cyclists. The study authors found that cycling for lower than half an hour per week was related to protection against heart disease.

A second report, in November 2016 Journal of the American Heart Associationfound that middle-aged or older Swedish adults who biked to work were less more likely to have conditions that increase the danger of heart disease, including hypertension, high cholesterol, or pre-diabetes, in comparison with those that use public transit or commute to work.

Both studies were observational, so that they don’t prove that cycling (or every other unmeasured factor or habit) results in lower risk. But the authors note that as an alternative choice to other types of aerobic exercise, biking could also be a sexy approach to strengthen the center for some people.