We, senior citizens from India visiting USA on a tourist visa, have formed a walking companion group at Windsor Pond Society, 3 miles SW of Princeton Junction. Some like to walk silently, some like
talking and some go beyond that indulging in hot discussions. Everybody is free
to choose his liking. I like walking alone, watching birds chirping, savoring beauty bestowed by nature in the form of green grass, colorful flowers,
leaves of varying shapes and sizes, and plants of various denominations.
Some take a 30 minute walk of 2 miles some more energetic go for one hour walk.
Finally, we gather together at a centrally located park to compare notes.
Today, I was identified by at least two
groups to be avoiding them and opting to walk alone. Therefore, the subject of
discussion pounced upon my temperament. Among
intellects, one has to be technically sound in explaining to their
satisfaction. I tried my best.
While walking, we indulge in aerobic respiration. This
is better accomplished during morning time. We inhale oxygen rich air. It
reacts with body glucose and releases carbon-dioxide, water and some energy.
This energy is either spent during brisk walking but mostly retained for future
use. This process takes place anaerobically also but glucose breaks down lesser
and there are good chances of toxins getting accumulated in the body. If one indulges in talking, getting excited and
losing temper, the energy gets wasted unnecessarily.
This breaking of glucose is beneficial for diabetic patient.
Sweating disposes toxins from the body. Therefore, walking here itself presents
three most beneficial properties.
I explained to them the way the plants and
animals take advantage of aerobic and non-aerobic respiration. Oxygen enters plant cells through the
stomata. Plants produce their food via photosynthesis and release energy from
it through the process of respiration.
The anaerobic respiration inhibits glucose
breakdown and produces lactic acid instead. In human, this results in cramping
of muscles. This known as Oxygen debt can be compensated by obtaining Oxygen
from elsewhere e.g., fresh air or oxygen mask. In plants, anaerobic
situation arises when there is water logging in the soil. This results in fermentation.
We find elephants, pythons and turtles
having a long life. Their breathing is deaper and longer. Those majestic trees
in a silent forest live far longer. The more you are conserving energy
and utilizing for beneficial purpose, the more you are healthy and live longer.
While returning, we watched people taking walk
silently. They looked more cheerful and healthy. Among us , the silent one was more healthier and aged than us.
We passed via a large pond with two
high rise fountains. These fountains were making the pond ambiance far more
beautiful. But, they were serving more pragmatically. They were helping the water with
aerobic purification. The downpour of falling showers was absorbing oxygen to their heart fill and getting
dissolved and un-dissolved waste scraped or chemically neutralized.
I summed up, the next day by quoting
from an available text in the internet, which was as under:
Respiration is the process of
releasing energy from the breakdown of glucose. Respiration takes place in
every living cell; all of the time and all cells need to respire in order
to produce the energy that they require. The energy produced during respiration is used in many
different ways, some examples of what it is used for are:
- Working your muscles
- Growth and repair of cells
- Building larger molecules from smaller ones
i.e. proteins from amino acids
- Allowing chemical reactions to take place
- Absorbing molecules in active transport
- Keeping your body temperature constant
- Sending messages along nerves
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