Researchers found that of the “least-fit” versus the “slightly more fit” of the nearly 4,400 healthy U.S. adults in their recent study, roughly 20 percent with the lowest physical fitness levels were twice as likely to die over the next nine years as the 20 percent with the next-lowest fitness levels. (To put it another way, those 20 percent who were nearly at the lowest fitness levels.) This is the time-honored “bad news/good news” outcome. It is undoubtedly bad news if you are a dyed-in-the-wool sofa spud. But, it is genuinely good news for those who haven’t quite hit rock bottom in the sedentary lifestyle department but are not, by definition, energetic. Apparently, those people who remain just moderately fit as they age may have a longer lifespan than those who are completely out-of-shape, the study suggests.

Between 1986 and 2006, researchers determined the fitness levels of 4,384 middle-aged and older adults during exercise treatmill tests. The researchers then observed the study groups progress for close to nine years. The study considered such factors like obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. This, in and of itself, highlights the importance of physical fitness itself. In an email to Reuters Health, Dr. Sandra Mandic, of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, and lead researcher of the study stated: “Our findings suggest that a sedentary lifestyle, rather than differences in cardiovascular risk factors or age, may explain the two-fold higher mortality rates in the least-fit versus slightly more fit individuals.”

Nearly two-thirds of the participants at the least-fit level failed to get at least 30 minutes of moderate activity, five or more days a week, which was the minimum recommended amount of exercise. “These results emphasize the importance of improving and maintaining high fitness levels by engaging in regular physical activity,” Mandic said, “particularly in poorly-fit individuals.”

Dividing the participants into five groups based on fitness levels, the researchers found that 25 percent of the least-fit men and women had died during the study period, as opposed to 13 percent of those who were in slightly better shape. Only 6 percent of the most-fit group (i.e., the ones who “hit a grand slam”) had died during the follow-up period.

The five fitness-level groups presented little difference, overall, in their reported exercise practices during most of their adult lives, but conspicuously, they contrasted in activity levels only in recent years. “Since it is recent physical activity that offers protection,” Mandic said, “it is important to maintain regular physical activity throughout life.”

Since fitness is undeniably associated with longevity (and, in this study, despite weight and health conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol), And, perhaps it goes without saying, imagine the health benefits we could all derive if we worked towards the higher levels of fitness.

SOURCE: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, August 2009.

Technorati Tags: exercise, longevity, middle age, physical fitness

However, before you make a decision to add an extra cup of coffee to your daily routine, let me elaborate by saying that under “Related Stories” on the website were at least two articles regarding studies that demonstrated the negative effects of caffeine, “Morning Jolt of Caffeine May Mask Serious Sleep Problems,” and “Coffee Consumption Linked To Increased Risk Of Heart Attack For Persons With Certain Gene Variation.”

Almost every point of view, I’ve noticed, especially when it comes to health and longevity, can be confirmed, or at least bolstered, by other related studies. The “good/bad” studies related to caffeine certainly aren’t, of course, the only ones. Nonetheless, it did get me to considering about the likelihood that there will never be just “one thing” that will absolutely help we, humans, to live longer, healthier lives. Humans are dynamic, biological creatures. We are free to engage in life. We’re not bred in a cage! And, furthermore, though Alzheimer’s disease is likely on the rise, obviously we, cage-free humans, have not been “artificially induced to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease,” therefore caffeine isn’t absolutely the “one thing” that is going to reverse or prevent it.

Our body is a splendid, complex system that is based on homeostasis, that is to say, balance. It is likely, then, that good health is about a healthy, balanced approach to living, instead of our jumping on the bandwagon of the latest health study and “doing” or “overdoing” one particular thing under the illusion that it will reverse all of the other over-indulgent and unhealthy things we have done to our bodies.

I believe, as a doctor of chiropractic, that every moment of the day we have an opportunity to make decisions that will assist us to live longer, healthier lives, healthy choices for our body and mind. We know what actually “feels” beneficial and what doesn’t when it comes to what is good for us. So, the next time you reach for that extra cup of coffee or that second glass of red wine, I hope that you’ll think about this. Neither one of those things is the “one thing” that will do “everything” for your age-related health issues.

Technorati Tags: age-related health issues, caffeine, chiropractor, health, longevity, red wine