New research suggests that if you want to prevent chronic disease and live longer, you need to eat well and exercise. Doing one or the other apparently is not enough to extend your life, both are important, reports Dani Blum for The New York Times.
You might think that you can counter the health consequences of eating a bag of oreos by going on a long run, and you wouldn’t be alone. But, exercise won’t undo the ugly toll those oreos take on your body. Similarly, eating lots of kale, spinach, nuts and fish, while good for your health, can’t make up for the fact that you’re a couch potato and not moving your muscles every day. Without exercise, you increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.
A study published in The British Journal of Sports Medicine says to forget about thinking you can eat whatever you want if you work out. The bad fats will not go away no matter how many crunches and pushups you do. The researchers analyzed data on 350,000 healthy people with a median age of 57.
The researchers put people who had high-quality diets in one box. These people ate an average of 4.5 cups of fruits and vegetables every day, at least two fish meals a week, less than two servings of processed meat each week and five or fewer servings of meat each week.
The researchers put people who spent a lot of time walking and doing other physical activity, including vigorous exercise that makes you sweat, in another box. Apparently, however much exercise you do can be helpful, as little as 10 minutes a week.
The researchers found that the people who fell into both boxes had the lowest likelihood of chronic disease and premature death.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Aerobic exercise may be best medicine for your brain and body
- Five exercises to improve balance for safety and health
- Skip the keto diet, go Mediterranean
- New study finds no benefits to Vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acid supplements
- Adding salt to your diet could be bad for your health. . . unless you also eat fruits and vegetables
