Diet and Exercise Both Matter
To optimize longevity, you need both a healthful diet and regular exercise.
Going hard at the gym won’t negate the effects of a lousy diet. This is the conclusion of a study of 360,600 British adults published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The researchers found that high levels of exercise will not protect people from the life-shortening effects of a suboptimal diet.
People who ate an unhealthful diet and regularly exercised vigorously still were at increased risk for dying earlier from heart disease, cancer, or any cause, compared with those who consumed a healthy diet and participated in high levels of vigorous physical activity.
Study participants with healthy diet and exercise habits had a 19% reduced risk of death from heart disease, a 27% reduced risk of death from certain cancers, and a 17% reduced risk of death from all causes during a median follow-up of 11.2 years.
The working definition of a high-quality diet for this investigation had at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day, two servings of fish per week, and a low intake of red meats and processed meats.
See also: Bad Sleep, Bad Diet
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD
Matthew Kadey, MS, RD, is a James Beard Award–winning food journalist, dietitian and author of the cookbook Rocket Fuel: Power-Packed Food for Sport + Adventure (VeloPress 2016). He has written for dozens of magazines, including Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Shape, Men’s Fitness and Muscle and Fitness.
