You must have heard of the phrase “You reap what you sow.” It holds true even when it comes to your health. A new study has found that a healthy diet is associated with greater physical fitness in middle-aged people. A journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, published the study’s findings under the title “Association of healthy dietary patterns and cardiorespiratory fitness in the community.”
The team mentioned that cardiorespiratory fitness assesses how well the heart, lungs, blood vessels and muscles are functioning as well as the body’s capacity to distribute and use oxygen during exercise. It is one of the most effective measures of well-being and mortality. Though exercise betters cardiorespiratory health, there are differences in fitness among people who exercise the same amount, indicating that other factors also play a part in their well-being. In this respect, a nutritious diet has been linked to a number of positive health effects, but it was unclear whether it also has an impact on fitness. This study looked at the relationship between a healthy diet and physical fitness among people.
For the purpose of this study, the researchers assessed about 2,380 subjects with an average age of 54 years. Almost 54 percent of the participants were female. The subjects engaged in a maximum effort cardiopulmonary exercise test. As per the team, this is the best method for measuring fitness, and it shows how much oxygen is used up during the most demanding exercise.
Additionally, the Harvard semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was filled out by participants to measure their consumption of 126 dietary items over the previous year. The data was used to measure the quality of diets using the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) and Mediterranean-style Diet Score (MDS) metrics. Both of these are linked to heart health. Higher scores denoted a better quality diet that prioritised fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seafood, and healthy fats and less red meat and alcohol.
As per the results, the typical MDS was 12.4, while the average AHEI was 66.7. An increase of 13 points on the AHEI and 4.7 points on the MDS, when compared to the average score, were linked to fitness levels increasing 5.2 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.
The association between diet quality and fitness was assessed after other variables that might affect the relationship were taken into account, such as age, sex, total daily energy intake, body mass index, smoking status, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, diabetes, and level of regular physical activity.
The researchers carried out additional analysis to identify the mechanism connecting food and fitness. They looked at the connection between fitness, metabolites—substances formed during digestion and released into the blood during exercise—and diet quality. Blood samples were taken from 1,154 research participants to analyse a total of 201 metabolites, including amino acids. A total of 24 metabolites were linked to diet and fitness levels.
Dr Michael Mi of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, who was involved in the study said that the research proves the association between fitness and high-quality diets.
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