Study: Poor Diet Is More Harmful Than Lack Of Exercise
Doctors can now show that a poor diet has a greater negative impact on our bodies than lack of exercise. Most people believe that problems such as obesity result from inactivity, and overweight people are even accused of being lazy. However, according to a new report, the bigger problem lies with an individual’s diet rather than his or her level of physical activity when it comes to the battle of the bulge.
For your diet to be healthy, it must provide the appropriate levels of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, healthy fats and minerals that your body needs. In contrast, an unhealthy diet contains excessive saturated and transfats, sodium, cholesterol, added sugars and processed ingredients while providing less nutrients.
Experts have now established that over the last three decades more has changed in the way people eat than in their level of physical activity. This means that the steady increase in obesity we observe today is not so much because of our lack of exercise, but rather our poor eating habits.
Yet, said the experts led by cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, the public wrongly believed that obesity was due to a sedentary lifestyle.
The doctors claimed that obesity has rocketed in the past 30 years, despite little change in physical activity levels.
‘This places the blame for our expanding waistlines directly on the type and amount of calories consumed,’ said Dr Malhotra.
‘Let us bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity. You cannot outrun a bad diet.’ Via Daily Mail
How a Poor Diet Affects Our Health
Unfortunately, the problems don’t just stop at weight issues. A poor diet affects all areas of our health. According to the experts behind the study, the negative health effects of a poor diet are greater than those of physical inactivity, alcohol and smoking combined. This is a shocking revelation.
In fact, a poor diet is so serious that it is now considered a cause for early death.
A diet low in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fiber but high in red meat, salt, and processed sugar is now a key contributor to early death worldwide, according to a study published in The Lancet. Researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) examined life expectancy for 79 different risk factors in 188 countries from 1990 to 2013. Dietary risk factors, including low intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds had the most impact on early death. Via PCRM
Children are among the greatest sufferers of the effects of a poor diet, whether they are infants or in their early developmental years. Breastfeeding babies are particularly vulnerable to the poor diets of their mothers, since the nutritional value of the breast milk largely depends on the mother’s food intake. The following post details the extent that a nursing mother’s diet has on her breast milk.
Can A Poor Diet Impact The Quality Of Breastmilk?
Parents often have many worries as they tackle the adjustment of a new baby, especially when it comes to breastmilk. One of these worries is whether a mother’s diet impacts her breastmilk. Many of us grew up hearing, “you are what you eat”. Knowing the importance of nutrition, we might assume a mother with a less than perfect diet would make less than perfect milk. Is this a real concern? Do mothers need to worry about their diet while breastfeeding? Read more here…
Because growing children rely on the nutrients they receive through their foods to develop properly, junk food can be a lot more harmful for a child than for an adult. For instance, a poor diet will not make an adult less smart, but it can result in lower intelligence for a young, developing child.
With an estimated 70% of the American diet made up of processed foods, we – as a collective – are facing a serious conundrum in which if greater effort is not given to make wholesome, more nutritious fare a priority (with many countries following the lead of the United States), incoming generations will not only not live as long as their parents, they won’t be near as intelligent either.
According to a recent study conducted by the Avon Longitudinal study of Parents and Children, diets high in fat, sugar, and processed foods are lowering children’s IQ. The report shares that eating habits among three year-olds shapes brain performance as they get older. Via True Activist
If you’re looking for one thing you can do to really improve your health — and the health of your entire family — clearly it’s improve your diet. If you would like professional assistance to get started on a more nutritional path toward health and weight loss, Dr. Ann Miller has a comprehensive plan that can help you. Contact her today by phone at 585-396-0527, or through the contact form here on the website.
