There is bad news for anyone who thinks that vigorous exercise can make up for a diet that favors junk food over fruits and vegetables.
Key points:
- The researchers examined the effects of diet and exercise using 360,600 British adults
- The study found that people who were very active on a high-quality diet had the lowest risk of death
- High-quality diets included five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, two servings of fish a week, and limited red meat.
Research led by the University of Sydney found that intense exercise does not counteract the harmful effects of a poor diet on a person’s risk of mortality.
The study found that people who had high levels of physical activity and a high-quality diet had the lowest risk of death, which shows that a poor diet cannot be overcome.
The researchers examined the independent and joint effects of diet and exercise on cardiovascular disease, cancer and all-cause mortality using 360,600 British adults from the UK Biobank.
People need to eat fruits and vegetables every day for their diet to be considered high quality. (Pexels: Vanessa Loring)
The UK Biobank is a large-scale study that contains in-depth biological, behavioral and health information from participants.
High-quality diets included at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, two servings of fish a week, and lower consumption of red meat, especially processed meat.
For those who had high levels of physical activity and a high-quality diet, their risk of mortality was reduced by 17% for all causes, 19% for cardiovascular disease and 27% for selected cancers, in compared to those with worse diets who were physically inactive.
Lead author Melody Ding said she could not escape the conclusion that “both regular physical activity and a healthy diet play an important role in promoting health and longevity.”
People with high physical activity and a high-quality diet saw the highest reduction in their risk of mortality. (ABC News: Tim Swanston)
“Some people may think that they could offset the impacts of a poor diet with high levels of exercise or offset the impacts of low physical activity with a high quality diet, but the data show that unfortunately this is not the case, ”Dr. Ding said. dit.
Research fellow at the University of South Australia’s Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity, Dot Dumuid, did not participate in the study, but credited his large data set to provide solid evidence.
He noted that the study found that there was still some benefit to exercising or dieting high quality.
“The group that had high activity and not a good diet still had a reduced risk of death,” Dr. Dumuid said.
Dr. Dumuid said the study left room to explore more indicators of a low-quality diet that include sugary or energetic foods.
He said it was important to remember the study focused on the outcome of premature death.
“There is a lot of life to live before premature death, so there is quality of life, enjoyment and happiness,” Dr. Dumuid said.
“There are things that need to be further explored … finding that balance and commitment.”
A small number of studies have previously found that high-intensity exercise can counteract the harmful physiological responses to overeating.
However, Dr. Ding said the latest study reinforced the importance of both physical activity and diet quality to reduce the risk of death.
The study is published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
ABC / AAP