Researchers found that of the “least-fit” versus the “slightly more fit” in a recent study of nearly 4,400 healthy U.S. adults, roughly 20 percent with the lowest physical fitness levels doubled the risk of dying over the next nine years as the 20 percent with the next-lowest fitness levels. (In other words, those 20 percent who were nearly at the lowest fitness levels.) This is the familiar “bad news/good news” type of result. It is obviously bad news if you are a confirmed couch potato. However, it is genuinely good news for those who haven’t quite hit rock bottom in the sedentary lifestyle department but are not, by any stretch of the imagination, “exertive.” Apparently, those individuals who stay just moderately fit as they age may have greater longevity than those who are entirely out-of-shape, the study suggests.

Between 1986 and 2006, researchers assessed the fitness levels of 4,384 middle-aged and senior men and women during exercise treatmill tests. For approximately nine years thereafter, the researchers observed the study groups progress. The study considered such factors like obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. This, in and of itself, highlights the importance of being physically fit. In an email to Reuters Health, lead researcher, Dr. Sandra Mandic of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, 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 least-fit study participants were not getting the minimum recommended amount of exercise, which is at least 30 minutes of moderate activity (like brisk walking) five or more days a week. “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.”

After dividing the participants into five groups based on fitness levels, the researchers discovered that 13 percent of those who were in slightly better shape had died during the study period. However, 25 percent of the least-fit participants had died during the same period. Only 6 percent of the most-fit group (i.e., the ones who “hit the nail on the head,” so to speak) had died during the follow-up period.

The compelling finding was that overall, the five fitness-level groups showed little dissimilarity in their reported exercise routines over their adult lives, but where they contrasted was their activity levels in recent years. “Since it is recent physical activity that offers protection,” Mandic said, “it is important to maintain regular physical activity throughout life.”

And, naturally, imagine the health benefits we could all obtain if we sought to achieve the higher levels of fitness.

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

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However, before you decide to add an extra cup of coffee to your morning routine, let me warn you that under “Related Stories” on the website were at least two articles about studies that professed to prove 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.”

In my experience, I’ve noticed that there are conceivably many studies that will corroborate, or at least support, almost any point of view, in particular when it is about health and longevity. The “good/bad” studies related to caffeine certainly aren’t, of course, the only ones. Nonetheless, it did get me to thinking about the likelihood that there will not ever be any “one thing” that will incontrovertibly help we, humans, to live longer, healthier lives. We are dynamic, biological beings. We aren’t raised in a cage! We are free to make choices in life. And, furthermore, though Alzheimer’s disease apparently is on the rise, obviously no one has been “bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease,” therefore caffeine isn’t going to be the “one thing” that will reverse or prevent it.

The human body is an exquisite, involved system that is based on homeostasis (balance). It is likely, then, that good health has more to do with a healthy, balanced approach to living, as opposed to our being momentarily convinced by the latest health study and “doing” or “overdoing” one specific thing under the illusion that it will reverse all of the other over-indulgent and harmful things we have done to our bodies.

As a chiropractor, I believe that every moment of the day we have an opportunity to choose healthfully for our body, decisions that will help us to live longer, healthier lives. We know what genuinely “feels” beneficial and what doesn’t when it comes to what is good for our body. So, I just wanted to pass along a little something for you to keep in mind the next time you consider having that extra cup of coffee or second glass of red wine. There is no “one thing” that will do “everything” for your good health.

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