Unhealthy Diet Increases Risk of Heart Diseases Despite Physical Exercise: Study

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A recent study has found that unhealthy food items increase the risk of cardio vascular diseases even among those who regularly do physical exercise

A recent study has found that unhealthy food items increase the risk of CVDs even among those who regularly do physical exercise.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognises cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) as the leading cause of deaths globally. CVD is a general term for the conditions in which fatty acids build up inside arteries and thus increase the risk of heart attack. One of the major causes of these fatal diseases is an unhealthy diet. We often believe that exercising or doing some physical activity would compensate for our intake of unhealthy food including processed food or junk food items that are usually loaded with calories.

However, a recent study has found that unhealthy food items increase the risk of CVDs even among those who regularly do physical exercise. The findings of the study challenge the popular perception that those who follow a work-out regimen can afford to take processed and junk food.

The research, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) on July 10, examined how physical activity and diet are associated with cardiovascular diseases and adiposity-related (PDAR) cancer. The researchers studied records of 3,46,627 participants from the United Kingdom’s Biobank data between 2007 to 2020. The death records were taken from the National Health Service data.

The study found that a continued consumption of unhealthy food can lead to increased health risks like cardiovascular diseases and adiposity-related (PDAR) cancer mortality. Adiposity is the Latin term for obesity, which the WHO defines as excessive fat accumulation or simply being overweight. According to the Centre of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), obesity is linked with higher risk of getting cancer.

The study found out that being in the best dietary category was associated with a reduction in PDAR cancer mortality. There were no additive or multiplicative interactions found between the physical activity categories and diet combinations. But, when compared between the two, the data consistently suggested lowest risk to health when higher level of physical activity is coupled with the highest quality diet score.

The researchers concluded that sticking to both a quality diet as well as sufficient physical activity is the best way to reduce the risk of mortality from cardiovascular diseases and PDAR cancers.