Sports and healthy food: scientists admitted that they were wrong about the main recipe for longevity

New research shows that eating healthy or exercising alone is not enough to prevent chronic disease. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot avoid the consequences of a poor diet, and a healthy diet alone will not prevent disease. The edition told in more detail The New York Times.

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Most people know that exercise and proper nutrition are important components of overall health. But extensive research suggests that going to the gym does not counteract the effects of eating fatty foods, and eating cabbage may not help with a sedentary lifestyle.

“Sensationalist headlines and misleading advertisements for exercise regimens to lure consumers into the idea of ​​‘working out to eat whatever they want’ have helped spread the myth that exercise will solve everything,” the study authors wrote.

Previous animal studies, as well as several human studies, have supported this, suggesting that, at least in the short term, strenuous exercise can counteract the effects of overeating.

So an international team of researchers studied data from almost 350 participants collected from the UK Biobank, a huge medical database of health information from across the UK, and tracked it down for a decade. The study participants, whose average age is 000, were initially healthy, meaning they were not diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, cancer, or chronic pain.

Analyzing questionnaires filled out on their own, the experts divided people's diets by quality. For example, high-quality diets included at least 4,5 cups of fruits and vegetables per day, two or more servings of fish per week, fewer than two servings of processed meat per week, and no more than five servings of red meat per week. According to Melody Ding, lead author of the study and an associate professor at the University of Sydney, the study did not measure optional foods such as soft drinks or desserts.

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The researchers also measured activity levels using responses from another questionnaire that asked about the total number of minutes participants spent walking and doing moderate physical activity, such as carrying light loads or cycling at an easy pace, as well as vigorous physical activity. which lasted more than 10 minutes at a time. The authors wrote that this was the first study to examine diet and exercise along with overall mortality and specific deadly diseases such as cancer.

Not surprisingly, people with higher levels of physical activity and better nutrition had the lowest risk of mortality. The overall level of physical activity was associated with a lower risk of mortality, but those who exercised regularly - the kind that makes you sweat - had a particularly low risk of death from cardiovascular disease. And even just 10 to 75 minutes a week made a difference.

Dr. Dean said that regardless of your diet, “physical activity is important. And whatever your physical activity, diet is important.”

"Any amount of exercise helps," said Salvador Portugal, a sports health expert and assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at NYU Langone Health, who was not involved in the study. “But you can’t rely solely on training to maintain good health.”

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These results highlight what many clinicians have seen in practice, said Dr. Tamanna Singh, co-director of the Sports Cardiology Center at the Cleveland Clinic, who was not involved in the study. For example, she says, there are many components of heart health, and "optimizing one of them will not necessarily reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease."

She watches patients who classify themselves as amateur or professional athletes, and is shocked when they develop cardiovascular disease, but they do not think about diet at all.

“A lot of times they’ll come up to me after an event and say, ‘I’ve been training so hard. Why did I have a heart attack?’” Singh wondered.

On the other hand, even those who had the highest quality diet in the study performed significantly worse without any regular exercise regimen.

That doesn't mean people can't treat themselves to a post-workout treat, according to Dr. Singh.

His colleague Dr. Dean believes the study highlights the importance of looking at food and exercise as a whole health package instead of counting how many miles a cookie can "cancel".

“It's not just about burning calories,” she said. “We need to change that mindset.”

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