EATING a healthy diet is as good for you as walking an extra 4,000 steps per day, a study found.
Scientists say scoffing fruit and vegetables boosts physical fitness as well as improving general health.
GettySimply eating more fruit and vegetables could help you get fit as well as healthy[/caption]
They think it could be because a nutritious diet improves the metabolism, helping the body process calories and absorb goodness from foods.
It could be why some people who exercise are fitter than others who work out but are less strict about what they eat.
And it offers a low-effort way to start getting in shape – by simply cutting out junk food.
Study author Dr Michael Mi, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said: “In middle-aged adults, healthy dietary patterns were strongly associated with fitness even after taking activity levels into account.
“The improvement in fitness was similar to the effect of taking 4,000 more steps each day.”
Four thousand steps is equal to around 1.7 to 2 miles.
Most Brits are overweight and do not get enough exercise – the NHS recommends at least 2.5 hours of moderate activity each week.
Dr Mi’s study, in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, used data from 2,380 middle-aged Americans.
It compared their maximum fitness and the quality of their diet.
Diet quality was rated on a scale of one to 110, with a higher score showing a closer focus on the Mediterranean diet.
High scoring ‘superfoods’ that can boost your health include:
Vegetables
Fruits
Whole grains (e.g. brown rice, quinoa, porridge oats)
Nuts (unsalted)
Legumes (e.g. beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas)
Fish
Cut down on red meat and alcohol
Every 13 extra points on the healthy eating scale led to a five per cent performance improvement on an exercise bike, it found.
Dr Mi added: “There are already many health reasons to consume a high-quality diet, and we provide yet another one with its association with fitness.
“A Mediterranean-style diet with fresh, whole foods and minimal processed foods, red meat and alcohol is a great place to start.”