Diet or Exercise, Which One is Better?

If we want to get a healthy body, there are three things we need to do, that is diet, exercise, and adequate rest or sleep. From those three things, exercise is hard to do for some people with reason, they don’t have time for it or they too lazy do exercise regularly. However, to improve certain health conditions, exercise is not always the best solution. Some experts recommend you to diet or change eating patterns. So, what kind of health problem which is better solved by diet or exercise?

1. Lose weight
better solution: diet
Research proved that reducing calories is the fastest way to become slim. “It is much easier to reduce 500 calories rather than spend an hour in the gym to burn 500 calories every day,” said Timothy Church, MD, PhD, director of research for preventive medicine at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University. However, the combination of diet and exercise remain essential to maintaining a healthy weight.

2. Increasing energy
Better solution: Exercise
According to Patrick O’Connor, PhD, a psychologist at the University of the training area of Georgia, Exercise causes the brain neurotransmitter that reinforces poured, such as dopamine and norephinephrine. No less than 70 studies support the fact that people who exercise consistently will increase their energy.

3. Improve your mood
Better solution: exercise
“Exercise does not always need a long time. Workout session for 20 minutes is enough to improve your mood for next 12 hours”, reports research of University of Vermont. Exercise can make changes in your brain to strengthen your resolve to fight stress. For some people, meditation can also be an effective way to overcome depression.

4. Reduce the risk of heart attack
Better solution: Diet
“if we want to lowering heart attack risk, we just need to focus on one type of nutrition, that is omega-3 fatty acids,” said William Harris, PhD, director of cardiovascular health research center at the University of South Dakota. In various studies, omega-3 from fish can reduce the risk of heart disease up to 64%. However, the exercise still important to strengthen your cardiovascular system.

5. Preventing cancer
Better solution: Diet and exercise
Eat more vegetables and fruits, and exercise regularly, are the most effective way in preventing cancer. Various studies have shown, the more consistently you exercise, the higher self protection against cancer.

6. Preventing diabetes
Better solution: Exercise
Keep your healthy weight by diet and exercise is the strongest defense against this disease, but more physical activity plays an important role. Because muscles will absorb glucose from the blood as fuel and thus keep your blood sugar levels remain stable.