Starting an exercise program is one of the best things you can do for your health. No other lifestyle factor lowers the risk of so many diseases and has so many positive benefits. Exercise doesn’t just do good things for you physically – research shows it improves cognitive function, mood, and makes you more productive. Exercise is also the best anti-aging medicine there is. Two factors that strongly contribute to age-related frailty are the loss of muscle and bone tissue. Resistance training helps you retain more lean body mass and prevents bone loss as you grow older. Yes, the minutes you spend exercising is time well spent.
Exercise has even greater benefits if you combine it with a healthy diet. The combination of exercise and good nutrition is a powerful force in the battle against age-related health problems. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, half of all chronic diseases are preventable, assuming you make healthy lifestyle choices – and that includes exercise AND good nutrition.
The Role Nutrition and Exercise Play in Preventing Chronic Diseases
Let’s look at the role nutrition and exercise play in the most common cause of death in Western countries, heart disease. Research shows people who are inactive have a two-fold greater risk of developing coronary artery disease relative to those who meet the guidelines of 150 minutes of physical activity each week. If you exercise at a vigorous pace, you can reap benefits with as little as 10 minutes of exercise.
You may not think of resistance training as being of benefit for heart disease prevention, but research suggests that it too reduces the risk for coronary artery disease. One study showed men who did resistance training at least 30 minutes weekly had a 25% lower risk of heart disease.
What happens if you combine exercise with a healthy diet? The results of a large study called the Nurses’ Health Study cohort, involving almost 85,000 middle-aged women, showed a combination of eating a healthy diet AND getting at least 150 minutes of moderate or vigorous exercise weekly would prevent 82% of deaths due to coronary artery disease. It’s hard not to be impressed with these statistics!
So what IS a healthy diet? This study defines a healthy diet as one high in fiber, low in glycemic load, rich in long-chain omega-3s like those in fish oil and containing little of no trans-fat. This is consistent with a Mediterranean-style diet, a diet already shown to lower the risk of coronary artery disease. The Mediterranean diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes, nuts, healthy fats like those in olive oil, and moderate amounts of whole grains. Although the traditional Mediterranean diet contains moderate amounts of poultry, it’s light on red meat and almost free of refined grains and sugar. Hint: A Mediterranean diet and exercise is a powerful combo for heart health.
The DASH diet is similar to the Mediterranean diet, but it includes up to 2 daily servings of low-fat dairy daily. This diet was established as a way to treat hypertension, another risk factor for heart disease. If you have high blood pressure, a combination of exercise and a DASH diet could significantly lower your blood pressure. In one study, the DASH diet reduced blood pressure to normal, in those with hypertension, in 70% of cases. Who says you can’t lower your blood pressure naturally?
Nutrition and Exercise: A Powerful Combination for Reducing the Risk for Type 2 Diabetes
Did you know women born after the year 2000 have a risk of developing type 2 diabetes of almost 39% over a lifetime? Here’s the good news, the Nurses’ Health Study showed 91% of diabetes cases that appeared during follow-up were attributable to diet and lack of exercise. Exercise lowers the risk for type 2 diabetes, partially by reducing body weight in people who are overweight and by increasing insulin sensitivity, but you’ll get even more protection if you combine it with a blood-sugar friendly diet. Again, a Mediterranean-style diet that emphasizes whole foods and one without refined carbs and added sugar offers protection. A combination of exercise and a focus on diet and nutrition can even reverse type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes in some cases. Type 2 diabetes is one of the most preventable diseases of all and one of the most responsive to a healthy lifestyle. Metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes responds best to a combination of diet and exercise.
Weight Loss
Research suggests that what you put into your mouth is more important than how much you exercise when you’re trying to lose weight. Most people overestimate the calories burned during a workout session, and it’s easy to compensate for those calories by eating more. Still, exercise is an integral part of the equation because it enhances your body composition by increasing lean body mass. When you lose weight through diet alone, you lose fat AND lean body mass. Exercise shifts that loss more towards fat loss and helps preserve and even increase muscle size and strength.
Another reason to focus on nutrition and exercise to reach your ideal body weight: A study showed people who exercised without focusing on diet and nutrition lost an average of 6 pounds over a 21 week period while those who dieted AND exercised lost 23 pounds – big difference! Don’t underestimate the benefits of exercise but make sure you’re complementing your workouts and gaining an additional “edge” by making smart dietary choices.
The Bottom Line
Whether you’re trying to lose weight or lower your risk for chronic health problems like heart disease and type 2 diabetes, you’ll get the most benefits by exercising AND eating a healthy, whole food diet. While exercise alone will help you meet your goals, making smart dietary choices will supercharge your results. Don’t assume because you exercise you can eat whatever you want. Give your diet as much focus as you do your workout program and you’ll enjoy better health.
References:
JAMA 270: 2207-2212, 1993.
Huffington Post “Exercise versus Diet: The Truth about Weight Loss”
Journal of Applied Physiology Published 1 January 2005 Vol. 98 no. 1, 3-30 DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00852.2004.
JAMA 279: 669-674, 1998
N Engl J Med 345: 790-797, 2001.
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