Participants in the 40th Vienna City Marathon cross the Reichs bridge at the start of the race in Vienna, Austria on April 24, 2023. (AFP)

The European Journal of Preventive Cardiology published a study on August 9 detailing how walking a minimum of 3,967 steps each day, slightly less than two miles, lowers the risk of death from any cause, while walking a minimum of 2,337 steps a day, slightly more than one mile, can reduce the risk of dying from heart disease -- thus contradicting previous findings which set the steps count at much higher levels.

Previous research has found that one needs to walk at least 5,000 steps a day to reap the health benefits, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that people walk at least 10,000 steps a day.

The relevance of this study lies in that it clarifies the link between how much a person walks and the risk of death. It also reveals that walking in the smallest amounts can ward off cardiovascular disease and early mortality.

"What is different is that previous studies have suggested you need at least 4,000 steps per day and ideally 6,000 to 8,000 for significant benefit." Dr. Michael Fredericson, a professor of orthopedic surgery at Stanford Health Care who was not involved in the study, told Healthline.

"However, this study suggests we do not need as many steps to have health benefits, and they can manifest starting with even 2,500 to 4,000 steps a day," Fredericson added.

The research was conducted on an evaluation of health data from 226,889 participants.

The results of the study showed that adding 1,000-step increments were linked to a 15% lower risk of death from any cause, and 500-step increments were lowering risk of death from a cardiovascular event by 7%.

The findings further reveal that walking as little as 2,500 steps a day can improve your health, while walking 4,000 steps a day can significantly lower the risk of death.

To date, the research is the biggest meta-analysis published on the health effects of regular walking and physical activity.

It's also the first to evaluate the health benefits up to a daily step count of 20,000. Previous research has examined the benefits of up to 15,000 steps per day.