05/27/2025
Every year, physical inactivity may cause more than 10 million years of healthy life lost, but what we eat may account for nearly 20 times that amount. One of the most comprehensive and systematic analyses ever done, the Global Burden of Disease Study, found that the number one cause of death is an unhealthy diet.
Diet is considered to be the most important lifestyle factor when it comes to aging, healthspan, and lifespan. The good news is we can change how we eat.
Pioneering research from Nathan Pritikin, Dean Ornish, and Caldwell Esselstyn has shown that a plant-based diet may help arrest or even reverse the progression of heart disease in the majority of patients. Indeed, it’s the only diet that ever has.
When it comes to weight loss, there are two issues at play. First, exercise only works if we actually do it. Second, people tend to overestimate how many calories they actually burn during exercise. For example, a slice of pizza (about 300 calories) would require about an hour of brisk walking to burn it off—that's an hour a slice!
That said, the evidence supporting the overall health benefits of physical activity is overwhelming. Exercise may improve cognition, enhance mood, successfully treat depression, improve erectile function in men, and generally improve quality of life. It may work as well as drugs for patients with coronary heart disease, heart failure, and pre-diabetes, and exercise may work even better than some medications for stroke. Always consult your doctor before making any changes to your medication or exercise routine.
Regular aerobic exercise may also help lower risk of at least 35 different diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. We should aim to include physical activity in our daily routine, but changing how we eat should be one of our main priorities.
Watch the video “Exercise Is Medicine” at see.nf/3XGSyNc and “The Exercise “Myth” for Weight Loss” at see.nf/47QkC3P to learn more.
How Not to Age is out now! See a sneak peak from the book at bit.ly/HNTAvideo
PMID: 32353572, 23245604, 30954305, 26876763, 29800598, 29382563, 25390301, 28708630, 28438770, 17846259, 29661646, 33044541, 26476429, 30640736
doi: 10.1123/japa.8.4.407
