Story at a glance
- The study, published Tuesday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found people who exercise regularly while eating a high-quality diet reduced their mortality risk from all causes by 17 percent.
- For the study, researchers evaluated the effects of both diet and exercise on mortality over time, using data from a population-based sample of British adults from the U.K. Biobank.
- The study shows that people who consumed high-quality foods and exercised regularly reduced their risk of dying from heart disease by 19 percent and from certain cancers by 27 percent.
High levels of exercise do not counteract the negative health effects of a poor diet, according to a new study.
The study, published Tuesday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found people who exercise regularly while eating a high-quality diet, reduced their mortality risk from all causes by 17 percent.
“Both regular physical activity and a healthy diet play an important role in promoting health and longevity,” the study’s lead author Melody Ding of the University of Sydney said in a news release.
“Some people may think 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 shows that unfortunately this is not the case.”
For the study, researchers evaluated the effects of both diet and exercise on mortality over time, using data from a population-based sample of British adults from the U.K. Biobank.
Researchers found that people who consumed high-quality foods and exercised regularly reduced their risk of dying from heart disease by 19 percent and from certain cancers by 27 percent.
“This study reinforces the importance of both physical activity and diet quality for achieving the greatest reduction in mortality risk,” Ding continued. “Public health messages and clinical advice should focus on promoting both physical activity and dietary guidelines to promote healthy longevity.”
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A recent study published in the Journal of Obesity found that American adults gain the most weight between their 20s and 30s.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 13,800 randomly selected participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Adults gained an average of 17.6 pounds between their 20s and 30s, while the average weight gain for a person between their 30s and 40s fell to 14.3 pounds.
“The U.S. obesity epidemic is not slowing down,” study lead author Larry Tucker, a BYU professor of exercise science, said at the time. “Without question, 10-year weight gain is a serious problem within the U.S. adult population.”
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