For people like Unsub who think that by exercising he can counter the effects of the crap he eats .......... bad news buddy
Vigorous exercise is not enough to counteract the health effects of a poor diet, new study finds
There is bad news for anyone who thinks vigorous exercise can compensate for a diet that favours junk food over fruit and veg.
Research led by the University of Sydney found intense exercise does not counteract the detrimental effects of a poor diet on a person's mortality risk.
The study found people who had high levels of physical activity as well as a high-quality diet had the lowest risk of death, showing you can not outrun a poor diet.
Researchers examined the independent and joint effects of diet and exercise on cardiovascular disease, cancer and all-cause mortality using 360,600 British adults from the UK Biobank.
The UK Biobank is a large-scale study containing in-depth biological, behavioural, and health information from participants.
High-quality diets included at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day, two portions of fish per week and lower consumption of red meat, particularly processed meat.
For those who had high levels of physical activity as well as a high-quality diet, their mortality risk was reduced by 17 per cent from all causes, 19 per cent from cardiovascular disease and 27 per cent from selected cancers — compared with those with the worst diet who were physically inactive.
Lead author Melody Ding said there was no escaping the conclusion that "both regular physical activity and a healthy diet play an important role in promoting health and longevity".
"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," Dr Ding said.
Research fellow at the Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity at the University of South Australia, Dot Dumuid, wasn't involved in the study but credited its large dataset for providing robust evidence.
She highlighted that the study found there was still some benefit in either exercising or eating a high-quality diet.
"The group that had high activity and not the good diet still had a reduced risk of death," Dr Dumuid said.
Dr Dumuid said the study left room to explore more indicators of a low-quality diet including sugary or high-energy foods.
She said it was important to remember the study focused on the outcome of premature death.
"There's alot of life to be lived before premature death so there's quality of life and enjoyment and happiness," Dr Dumuid said.
"There's things that need to be explored more... finding that balance and the compromise."
A small number of studies have previously found that high-intensity exercise may counteract detrimental physiological responses to overeating.
However, Dr Ding said the latest study reinforced the importance of both physical activity and diet quality for reducing the risk of death.
The study is published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Exercising alone helps with some stuff, but if you want to improve your longevity, you need a good diet.
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