"You cannot outrun a bad diet"

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This editorial in the British Journal of Sports Medicine has been getting a lot of mileage on Twitter and Facebook in the last few days; it has created quite a stir:

It is time to bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity: you cannot outrun a bad diet\

It is interesting to follow the reponses.
Here is one of the authors twitter account: https://twitter.com/ProfTimNoakes - he has been kept busy!

and this from BJSM editor:

 

The ratings on the article are showing a lot of negatives (I liked it):

 

I've seen a lot of comments from Professors and PhDs in nutrition who have been unhappy with this editorial. Suggestions that BJSM reputation has been damaged also very frequent.

 

Diet without a doubt is important... & so is consistent physical activity. Whilst I see the researchers point, the majority of the blame for obesity should be on the processed diet/food industry related issues i.e. the subsidies governments have on "junk food" ingredients (which should stop), the gross misinformation allowed to be fed to the public in advertisement (should be banned), the placement & amount of such products in supermarkets (should be dramatically reduced) etc...

However with this being a science paper, I understand the direction of it... whilst physical activity is extremely important, I do feel a whole food (i.e. limited to no processed foods), preferably plant based diet (as science would suggest) is even more important. One is a ticking time bomb if one's diet consists of fast foods/processed foods (junk food) & is inactive; whilst this fast food diet will eventually catch up with you if you are also physically active (varyingly so based on the level of physical activity). This is sometimes evidently seen within plenty of professional sportspeople shortly after retirement (i.e. some balloon out).

It's also not just a calorie count issue either. I feel more importantly it is the phytonutrients (polyphenols, carotenoids, flavonoids etc...) found within a whole food/plant based diet that people are missing out on when their diet is subsidised with the processed/junk food diet. These phytonutrients (polyphenols, carotenoids, flavonoids etc...) have been proven to have anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-aging (antioxidant) properties... along with higher vitamin & mineral content which is evidently needed within societies riddled with cancer, metabolic diseases & vitamin deficiencies.

As Hippocrates said: "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food".


Then there was another recent study warning us of the dangers of sitting too long (invoking slogans like "sitting is the new smoking" ).

 

Here is a well written critique of the above editorial pointed out to me via Facebook:
Physical Inactivity and Obesity is Not a Myth: Dr. Steven Blair Comments on the BJSM Editorial

I also posted this comment on it:

 

Crikey! After reading the above cited critique I recognised a name...

Hmmm... then I checked the authors of the research...

It is time to bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity: you cannot outrun a bad diet...

A Malhotra. 1, T Noakes. 2, S Phinney. 3

Then checked the reference...

That has to be the Professor Tim Noakes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Noakes (yes, I should have noted Craig's cited Twitter account of Prof. Noakes in post 1 ).

Known for his running related research as well as his running & injury related books i.e. the Lore Of Running (well, at least that's where I know him from).

Fancy him downplaying the importance of exercise on this topic (obesity)... but then, as noted by Dr Steven Blair (2nd quote block above i.e. point 4), he feels there is a "competing interest" & that should have been declared i.e. with Dr. Noakes book - Real Meal Revolution.

It was interesting mind you that Dr Blair noted his "competing interests" i.e.

Then I remembered reading the following in the research article in question...

Hmmmm... I'm sure it's nothing .

 

Somewhat related... hence posting here...

Even With Low BMI, Sitting Linked to Fatty Liver Disease - (Medscape article, hence you may need to log in):

 

You can out run a high calorie diet. Thinking back on my college days when I was working out twice a day I would lose 2 lbs. every time I missed a meal. My son just completed the pacific crest trail (Mexico to Canada). We were sending him resupply packages. We were budgeting 6000 calories a day and he was still hungry. At the end he was doing over 20 miles a day on days that he was hiking. Not even close to obese when he got home.

Eric