While it’s no secret that it’s important to eat foods that are nutritious and good for your body, you may have assumed that get enough exercise could counteract the effects of less than ideal food choices. However, a new study has shown that regular consumption of unhealthy foods can increase fatal risks despite exercise.
In the study, which was published in BMJ sports medicineresearchers from the University of Sydney in Australia looked at UK Biobank records spanning from April 2007 to December 2020. Using information from 346,627 UK residents who had provided around 11 years of data, the researchers first determined who I was eating a high quality diet and who wasn’t.
A high-quality diet was determined to be one that included at least four and a half cups of fruit or vegetables per day and at least two servings of fish a week. It also included no more than two servings of processed meat per week and fewer than five servings of red meat in that same time period. On the other hand, a low-quality diet did not fit these parameters and instead contained more red meat and processed foods, and not enough fruits, vegetables, or fish.
After analyzing the data, the researchers found that eating a healthy diet and exercising reduced the risk of fatal disease by 17%, while a poor-quality diet increased the risk of death. On top of that, those who had a poor-quality diet also had a 19% increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease and a 27% increased risk of PDAR (adiposity-related) cancers.
“I agree 100% with the findings. You sure can’t exercise your way out of an unhealthy diet.” dana ellis hunnes PhD, MPH, DRsenior clinical dietitian at UCLA Medical Center, assistant professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and author of Recipe for survivalHe says Eat this, not that! “It’s extremely easy to eat more than any exercise you do, firstly, but secondly, what also matters is the composition of the diet. An inherently unhealthy diet cannot be fixed by exercise alone.”
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“We get the most bang for our buck in terms of exercise when we also eat a healthy diet that complements our overall healthy lifestyle,” adds Hunnes. Beyond that, Hunnes points out that the more consistently we follow a healthy diet and the more consistently we exercise, “the more consistently healthy we are.”
Regarding the recommended high-quality diet and its link with longevityHunnes says, “Personally, I wish there was an even more whole-food, plant-based diet recommended than the one recommended here. Realistically though, the one recommended here is significantly better than probably 3/4 of the American diets.”
Desiree O
Desirée O is a freelance writer who covers lifestyle, food and nutrition news, among other topics. read more
