Often we see people that run or workout, and are kind of overweight, or we ourselves can be overweight but exercise, and think that being fat and fit is good enough. Really the fitness level seems important and your weight isn’t that important. Right?
Well that isn’t really true. You have to lower your fat level as well as get fit to be more healthy
The study results are in. If you want to reduce the risk of dying before your time, being fat and fit isn’t the way to go. Ditto for being slender but not fit. Fat and sedentary is the worst combination, of course. Lean and fit is the best way to live out your years.
Sounds logical, especially in view of all the recent hand-wringing about rising obesity rates. Nevertheless, whether exercise can overcome the risk of being over has been controversial, until now.
Early in 1999, Steven Blair, director of research at the Cooper Institute of Aerobics in Dallas, opined that you can be fat and fit and that would be good enough. In the men who are over or obese, but also moderately or high-fit, we don’t see much increase in the risk of dying, he told Nutrition Action Health Letter.
Can You Be Fat and Fit?
There has been some suggestion that if you are particularly active, you don’t have to worry about your fat, or about your diet, Dr. Frank Hu, lead author of the new study from the Harvard School of Public Health, told the Associated Press. That’s very misleading.
A Harvard study that was large and impressive, encompassing approximately 2.7 million person-years. The researchers followed 116,564 female registered nurses for 24 years. The nurses were 30 to 55 and healthy when the study began in 1976.
The nurses, all non-smokers, were monitored for physical activity and body mass. During the course of the study, 10, 282 died: 2370 from cardiovascular disease, 5223 from cancer, and 2689 from other causes.
The researchers found that being over or obese increased the risk of death regardless of the level of physical activity. Exercise helped, but did not overcome the higher risk of death associated with being fat.
Obese women who did brisk walking or other more rigorous activity three-and-one-half hours or more per week were, nevertheless, almost twice as likely (91 %) to die as those who were both active and lean.
Slender but inactive women were 55% more likely to die. Those who were both sedentary and obese were almost two and one-half times more likely to die.
Women who were both lean and physically active had the lowest mortality, the researchers reported.
Being physically active did not cancel out the increased mortality of over, Dr. Hu stated.
Applauding the Harvard study, Dr. Timothy Church of the Cooper Institute of Aerobics Research told the AP: If you’re lean but you’re sedentary, don’t fool yourself. You’re still at risk. You need to get physically active.
Thin and Fit Is The Way To Live
Another study done by researchers at Imperial college and University College in London. That Study had over 17,000 subjects and found the same thing
Waist circumference was similarly associated with heart disease risk (HR 1.32, 95% CI 1.24 to 1.41). Again, adjusting for blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes similarly reduced the link so it was on the threshold of significance.
Metabolically healthy obese people had a 28% increased risk of heart disease compared with metabolically healthy normal weight people
Clearly, the best way to live to a ripe old age is to watch what you eat and exercise. According to that research there is no way that you can be fat and fit at the same time.
There has been some suggestion that if you are particularly active, you dont have to worry about your body, about your diet, Dr. Frank Hu, lead author of the new study from the Harvard School of Public Health, told the Associated Press. Thats very misleading.
The Harvard study was large and impressive, encompassing approximately 2.7 million person-years. The researchers followed 116,564 female registered nurses for 24 years. The nurses were 30 to 55 and healthy when the study began in 1976. The nurses, all non-smokers, were monitored for physical activity and body mass. During the course of the study, 10, 282 died: 2370 from cardiovascular disease, 5223 from cancer, and 2689 from other causes.
The researchers found that being over or obese increased the risk of death regardless of the level of physical activity. Exercise helped, but did not overcome the higher risk of death associated with being fat.
Obese women who did brisk walking or other more rigorous activity three-and-one-half hours or more per week were, nevertheless, almost twice as likely (91 %) to die as those who were both active and lean. Slender but inactive women were 55% more likely to die. Those who were both sedentary and obese were almost two and one-half times more likely to die.
Women who were both lean and physically active had the lowest mortality, the researchers reported.
Being physically active did not cancel out the increased mortality of over, Dr. Hu stated.
Applauding the Harvard study, Dr. Timothy Church of the Cooper Institute of Aerobics Research told the AP: If youre lean but youre sedentary, dont fool yourself. Youre still at risk. You need to get physically active.
Clearly, the best way to live to a ripe old age is to watch what you eat and exercise.
As obvious as “Clearly, the best way to live to a ripe old age is to watch what you eat and exercise.” sounds it amazes me that people don’t do it. There are no secrets or shortcuts, just good exercise and clean diet.
It is indeed important to be lean and not thin!
Clearly, this is ideal! The reports on calorie restriction are certainly interesting in terms of longevity, but most people couldn’t do it.