A Mediterranean-style diet may be the same as walking 4,000+ steps

The study involved 2,380 adults with a mean age of 54 years. The group was split roughly halfway between men and women. Participants underwent a cardiopulmonary exercise test on a cycle ergometer to measure peak VO2, the maximum achievable oxygen consumption during physical activity.

“Peak VO2 is obtained by having people perform a maximal effort cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET), which is not the only data available from CPET. , the resting RER (respiratory exchange rate),” says Tanayan. “It has been shown to reflect the intake of the last meal before being tested.”

Participants also completed a Harvard semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire to determine their intake and frequency of 126 different dietary items. This helped me score the quality of the meal. Alternative Healthy Eating Index and the Mediterranean Diet Score. A higher score indicates a higher-quality diet that includes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fish, healthy fats, and restricts red meat and alcohol.

Tanayan pointed out that the type of fuel used on the test day was another data point used when analyzing peak VO2 to ascertain dietary metrics. Some metabolites were directly related to improved cardiopulmonary function.

The study found that people with higher dietary scores on the Alternative Healthy Diet Index and Mediterranean-Style Diet Score achieved 5.2% and 4.5% higher peak VO2, respectively.

Further analysis found that healthy eating was also associated with improved metabolic health.

“This study provides some of the strongest and most rigorous data to date to support the link that better diets can lead to greater fitness,” said study author Boston. said Dr. Michael Mee of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. statement. “The fitness gains observed in participants who improved their diet were similar to those of walking 4,000 or more steps each day.”

The study authors say this is an observational study and they cannot conclude that eating well improves health, nor do they rule out the possibility of an inverse relationship.

“It’s an interesting study,” he said. Doctor.Sean Hefron, Director of Fitness-Centered Cardiology at New York University Langone Hart Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention. “Leaving that aside, there are a number of unmeasured confounders that, in observational analysis, may play a role here. I think healthy diet and exercise are very broadly important, but We do not know specifically how diet contributes to improved synthesis of metabolic-related enzymes and other tissues known to determine health. , the study measures a variety of things, but not everything.”

However, the study authors were able to control for some factors by having individuals use a wearable device with a pedometer.

“As with other observational studies that involve quantification of exercise using self-reported physical activity questionnaires, little can be done to remove the subjectivity of daily activity levels perceived by subjects,” says Dr. Tanayan. To mitigate, the researchers also utilized data obtained from a wearable device with a pedometer that was worn for up to eight days after testing, which allowed for baseline fitness-accounting data from exercise. It allows for accurate analysis.”

Overall, this isn’t the first time diet and heart health have been linked. In fact, it’s now considered a hard and fast rule that proper diet is an important part of a healthy heart and contributes to overall quality of fitness.

Hefron recommends three things for patients when it comes to diet and heart health.

“We ask that you minimize your intake of land animals, as they are the main source of saturated fat and have a significant impact on LDL cholesterol levels,” Hefron said. “I tell my kids to fill their bodies with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains by putting a rainbow in their bellies every day. I ask that you eat healthy food.”

“A healthy diet should complement exercise, and in this case may improve performance,” said Tanayan. “Both adaptations to how our heart utilizes fuel and the availability of specific types of fuel based on diet contribute to fitness.”