Eating your vegetables is as good as walking 4,000 more steps, new research says

Consistently eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains is linked to better fitness levels as well as walking an extra 4,000 steps per day, according to a recently published new study. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

The aim of the study was to examine whether a healthy diet is associated with physical fitness in adults. The study included 2,380 participants in the Framingham Heart Study—a long-term, multigenerational study designed to identify common characteristics that contribute to cardiovascular disease. The average age of the participants was 54 years, and 54 percent of them were women.

In addition to completing a high-intensity fitness assessment, participants completed the Harvard semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire to assess intake of dietary items in the past year.

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Researchers used their responses to rate diet quality using two tests linked to heart health: the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) and the Mediterranean-style Diet Score (MDS). A high score indicates a diet that prioritizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fish, and healthy fats while limiting red meat and alcohol.

The researchers assessed the association between diet quality and fitness after controlling for other factors that may influence the relationship, including age, gender, total daily energy intake, body mass index, smoking status, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, diabetes, and regular physical activity. layer

The result? In a large observational study of community-dwelling individuals, researchers found that a healthy diet was associated with greater fitness — measured by taking 4,000 steps per day.

“This study provides the strongest and most rigorous data yet to support the connection that a better diet can lead to higher fitness,” study author Dr. Michael Mee, MA, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said in a statement.

“The improvement in fitness we observed in participants with a good diet was similar to the effect of taking 4,000 more steps per day.”

Fitness and heart health

Cardiorespiratory fitness reflects the body’s ability to supply and use oxygen for exercise, and it integrates the health of multiple organ systems such as the heart, lungs, blood vessels, and muscles. Researchers say it is one of the strongest predictors of longevity and health.

Although exercise increases cardiorespiratory fitness, there are differences in fitness among people who exercise the same amount, suggesting that additional factors contribute.

“Among middle-aged adults, healthy dietary patterns were strongly and favorably associated with fitness even after taking habitual activity levels into account,” Mi said. “The relationship was similar between women and men and was more pronounced among those younger than 54 years of age compared to older adults.”

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To discover possible mechanisms linking diet and fitness, researchers conducted further analyses. They examined the relationship between diet quality, fitness and metabolites, which are substances produced during digestion and released into the blood during exercise. A total of 201 metabolites were measured in blood samples collected in a subset of 1,154 study participants.

The results showed that approximately 24 metabolites were associated with either poor diet and fitness or favorable diet and fitness, after adjusting for the same factors considered in previous analyses.

“Our metabolite data suggest that eating healthily is associated with better metabolic health, which may be one possible way that it leads to improved fitness and exercise capacity,” Mi said.

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“There are already many compelling health reasons for consuming a high-quality diet, and we provide one more with its link to fitness,” Mee concludes. “A Mediterranean-style diet with fresh, whole foods and minimally processed foods, red meat and alcohol is a great place to start.”

Plant-based diet and cardiovascular disease

Many previous studies that examined the link between diet and cardiovascular disease found that a plant-based diet reduced the risk of such heart disease.

A study published in the Medical Journal Jama Internal Medicine found that closely adhering to one of four healthy eating patterns (Healthy Eating Index 2015, Alternative Mediterranean Diet, Healthy Plant-Based Diet Index, and Alternative Healthy Eating Index) was associated with a lower risk of premature death from all causes and cardiovascular disease. , cancer, and respiratory diseases.

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The researchers believe that the similarities between the associations between diet quality and mortality are due to the fact that the four dietary patterns share the key component of being high in plant foods, particularly whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes. And the researchers hope their findings will help inform any updates to the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).

“Our findings support current DGA recommendations to achieve long-term health benefits by adhering to a variety of healthy eating patterns that can be adopted based on individuals’ health needs, food preferences, and cultural traditions, although all of these diet patterns encourage higher consumption. of healthy plant-based foods,” the study concluded.