According to a recent study, a nutrient-rich diet is linked to higher physical fitness in middle-aged people.
The study found improvement in fitness observed in participants with better diets is similar to walking 4,000 more steps each day. The study measured the cardiorespiratory fitness of the participants. Cardiorespiratory fitness measures the ability of body to deliver and utilise oxygen during exercise including heart, lungs, blood vessels and muscles. It is one of the powerful indicators of health and lifespan.
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The purpose of the study was to observe whether a nutritious diet is related to physical fitness in community-dwelling individuals. The study included 2,380 participants with an average age of 54 years and 54% of them were female. The participants also filled up semi-qualitative food frequency questionnaire to assess intake of 126 dietary items during the last year ranging from never or less than once per month to six or more servings per day. Higher scores indicated a better quality diet emphasizing vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, legumes, fish and healthy fats and limiting red meat and alcohol.
The researchers evaluated the association between diet quality and fitness after controlling for other factors that could influence the relationship, including age, sex, total daily energy intake, body mass index, smoking status, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, diabetes and routine physical activity level.
The healthy dietary patterns, of middle-aged adults were strongly associated with fitness even after taking habitual activity levels into account. However, the relationship was similar to both women and men especially those under 54 years of age compared to older adults.
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The research examined the relationship between diet quality, fitness, and metabolites that are produced during the process of digestion and released during exercise in the body. Overall a total of 201 metabolites were measured in blood samples collected in a subset of 1,154 participants. Our metabolite data suggests that eating healthy is associated with better metabolic health, which leads to improved fitness and the ability to exercise.