Omitting afternoon snacks from your diet and exercising may just be the best way to keep your heart healthy in old age. Experts found combining crash diets with regular half-hour treadmill work-outs had little benefit other than weight loss. In fact, cutting out 250 calories was the only one of three methods found to be effective in boosting heart health.
Scientists at the Wake Forest School of Medicine in North Carolina categorised 160 obese adults in their 60s and 70s into three different groups for 20 weeks. A third of volunteers were asked to keep their regular diet, but go on a treadmill four days a week for 30 minutes. The others were asked to carry out the same amount of exercise but were instead asked to restrict their calorie intake. One group was instructed to cut out 250 calories per day, while the others were told to cut out 600 calories.
The dieting candidates received pre-made lunches and dinners but were given a list of breakfast items they could eat. Results showed weight loss rates were similar between the calorie-restricted groups. Those who cut the most calories lost 19.8lbs (9kg), on average. Those in the moderate calorie-restricted group lost 17.6lbs (8kg), while those who only exercised lost just 3.7lbs (1.7kg). However, only those who cut out fewer calories saw significant improvements to their heart health. The researchers monitored the stiffness of the aorta among all the participants.
People who ate 250 calories less per day had a 21 per cent increase in aortic distensibility – a measure of the artery's ability to expand and tighten to push blood around the body. And they also saw an 8 per cent fall in pulse wave velocity – the speed blood travels through the aorta. A higher figure is associated with a stiffer aorta.
Dr Tina Brinkley, lead author of the study published in the Circulation journal, said it is the first to assess the effects of aerobic exercise training with and without reducing calories on aortic stiffness. She said, “Our findings indicate these moderate lifestyle changes may help reduce aortic stiffness and improve overall vascular health in older adults. “We were surprised to find that moderate caloric reduction and aerobic activity had a better effect on arteries than exercise with a more restrictive diet. These relatively small changes should be manageable for people and more sustainable over the long term.”
