The simplest and most basic: Running burns more calories in less time than any other exercise. And calorie burning is directly related to oxygen consumption and weight loss, the two most critical aspects of health and fitness. The more oxygen you burn, the more efficient your body's cardiovascular system becomes. And an efficient cardiovascular system resists heart and artery disease.

Weight control is also central to the health goals of many runners, and for good reason. Excess weight is linked with all of the major lifestyle diseases, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. And in recent decades, as our lives have gotten ever easier, more sedentary and more computer-driven, the incidence of overweight has climbed alarmingly.

The situation has gotten so bad, in fact, that health officials have declared overweight a national epidemic. They've also figured out why so many people are gaining so much weight, and it's not from eating too much. It's from exercising too little.

To fight this trend (and that unsightly bulge around the middle), you need only become a regular runner. Running is the king of the calorie burners, and you don't need to be fast or graceful. No matter what your pace, you burn roughly 120 calories per mile of running. Run three miles three or four times a week, and you're well on your way to a consistent reduction in weight. Millions of people have done it--including Oprah Winfrey--and you can, too.

The beauty of it is, the program gets easier as you go along. Yes, the first steps and miles can be tough. But once you lose a pound or two, you'll find the running easier, which means you can go farther, which means you'll lose more weight, which means the running gets easier again, so you can go farther again, and lose more weight, which makes the running easier and . . . you get the point.

All you have to do is get started on the program, stick with it for several weeks, and wait for things to get easier. They will. They have to. This isn't some voodoo herbal weight-loss product. These are scientific principles at work, and your body can't disobey them. Like the apple that has to fall down from a tree, your body has to lose weight if you're consistently burning more calories than you're consuming.

In addition to these health benefits from running, you'll also feel better. And remarkably, you'll find that you have more energy, not less, every day. That's the beauty of running. You burn calories, lose weight, feel better, and have more energy.

How can you resist giving it a try?

5 Principles of Running