More Walking, Less Dementia: What Your Feet Are Telling Your Brain About Health and Longevity with Dr. Courtney Conley, DC & Dr. Milica McDowell, DPT

This podcast episode is a conversation from the Neuro Nook (book club) where Dr. Krystal Culler and co-host Heather Elwell spoke with the authors of the National Bestseller Walk: Rediscover the Most Natural Way to Boost Your Health and Longevity, One Step at a Time — Dr. Courtney Conley, DC and Dr. Milica McDowell, DPT — for a conversation that may likely shift change the way you think about walking. Today, fewer people realize they need to walk each day.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

🧠 Why walking belongs alongside breathing and sleeping as one of the three essential physiological functions we need to survive

🧠 The surprising foot-brain connection

🧠 What to look for when you look down at your feet

🧠 What an efficient walking gait actually looks like — and the simple cue that changes everything: roll the earth away

🧠 What makes a healthy shoe choice — and the three criteria to look for when buying footwear

🧠 Gait speed as the sixth vital sign — and what your walking speed can predict about your cognitive health up to nine years in advance

🧠 The step count research on dementia risk — and why 3,800 to 9,800 steps per day could reduce your risk by 25 to 51 percent

🧠 How walking impacts mental health — and why 5,000 steps per day has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression

🧠 The power of the five-minute micro walk — and why five minutes is enough

🧠 Movement snacks from the book

🧠 How to find time for walking in a busy life

Key Takeaways

✔ Walking is a physiological necessity — not optional, not a luxury, and not a low-level activity

✔ Your foot occupies massive real estate in your brain's sensory map — what happens from the ground up matters deeply for your overall health

✔ Gait speed is the sixth vital sign — and it can predict cognitive decline up to nine years before diagnosis

✔ Walking 3,800 steps per day reduces dementia risk by 25% — walking 9,800 reduces it by more than 50%

✔ Five minutes counts — the micro walk is real, accessible, and powerful

✔ Walk more, die less — the research is overwhelming and the prescription is free

The Neuro Nook Rx from Walk

📋 Add Vitamin W (Walk) to your daily brain care. Start with 5-minute intervals (≈500 steps) and build up to 30–35+ minutes a day (≈5+ days/week).

📋 Take a brisk walk (≈112 steps/per minute) for 30 minutes per day.
Earn FREE CEs

This podcast qualifies for the following credit types::

• Physicians: AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ (CME)

• Nurses: ANCC

• Pharmacists: ACPE

• Physician Associates: AAPA

• Dentists: ADA CERP

• Dietitians: CDR

• Social Workers: ASWB

• Psychologists: APA

• Athletic Trainers: BOC

• Interprofessional Continuing Education: IPCE

Join the Learn at Pinnacle app to earn FREE CE credit for listening to this episode!

Support the Podcast

If you enjoyed this episode, please help us grow the conversation around better brain health:

• Follow or subscribe to the Let's Talk Brain Health! Podcast

• Leave a rating or review

• Share this episode with a friend, colleague, caregiver, or fellow brain health advocate

Thank you for investing your time and energy into your brain health. A special thank you to Dr. Courtney Conley, DC and Dr. Milica McDowell, DPT for calling us into a collective all to action– and promise to keep walking with them?

Resources

• Review the Neuro Nook Book Club Summary of the book– Walk: Rediscover the Most Natural Way to Boost Your Health and Longevity, One Step at a Time– Including the Q&A and Final Takeaways from the authors on Substack

• Grab your copy of Walk: Rediscover the Most Natural Way to Boost Your Health and Longevity, One Step at a Time

• Explore Dr. Courtney Conley's work and education platform at Gait Happens and connect with them on Instagram and YouTube

• Follow Dr. Courtney Conley, DC on her personal Instagram and Substack

• Follow Dr. Milica McDowell, DPT on Instagram and Substack

• Learn more about the Neuro Nook Book Club from the Virtual Brain Health Center