What’s the best way to lose weight: diet, exercise or both?
This article will answer this question by sharing what does the scientific research say on this topic.
One survey shows that the majority of people (70%) think that both exercise and diet is the most important to lose weight. 18% of people think that physical activity is the most important for losing weight and 11% of people think that diet is the most important [1].
Scientific research shows that the majority of people may be wrong.
A meta-analysis of the past 25 years of weight loss research using diet, exercise or diet plus exercise shows that a 15-week diet or diet plus exercise program, produces a weight loss of about 11 kg, with a 6.6 +/- 0.5 and 8.6 +/- 0.8 kg maintained loss after one year, respectively [2].
So it looks like diet alone can be as effective as diet plus exercise for losing weight.
Although exercise is not required if you want to lose weight but it is recommended if you want to improve your overall health including dealing with physiological problems, poor sleep, asthma, etc. [3]
And if we are talking about overall health then diet is also very important to prevent and even treat some of the most common diseases.
For example, one study shows that a low-fat diet and/or intensive exercise results in change in serum hormones and growth factors in vivo that can reduce growth and induce apoptosis of LNCaP prostate tumor cells in vitro [4]. In other words, a low-fat diet like vegan diet may prevent cancer.
Conclusion:
Scientific research shows that diet is the most important when it comes to weight loss. If we are talking about the maximum impact on weight loss then definitely both diet plus exercise is the best way to lose weight. But diet alone may give you almost the same results as diet plus exercise. Although exercise is not required for weight loss but it is required if your goal is not only to lose weight but also to improve your overall health.
Click here if you want to read my other article and find out which diet is the healthiest: omnivorous, vegetarian or vegan (opens in a new tab)ю
Also, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Click here to download my free PDF Guide (opens in a new tab) and find out the best science-based way to lose weight fast without exercise, regaining and damaging your health.
If you want to find out how science-based nutrition and diet can prevent and treat the most common diseases, improve your overall health and help you live longer then you can click here to learn more (opens in a new tab).
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