This large US study (Tessier et al. 2025) looked at the relationship between diet and healthy ageing in a cohort of more than 100,000 participants followed for up to 30 years. The researchers examined adherence to eight healthy eating regimes and found that they were all associated with healthy ageing; the Alternative Healthy Eating Index* […]
Author: drpaulachecksitout
7,000 steps per day is a useful guideline
A large systematic review (57 studies) and meta-analysis (31 studies) by Ding et al. (2025) examined the relationship between steps and chronic diseases the authors making the point that whilst the relationship between stepping and mortality is well documented the relationship between steps and chronic diseases is less well understood. The study revealed that there […]
Steps slow the rate of cognitive decline
A recent study (Yau et al. 2025) examined the relationship between steps per day and cognitive decline. The researchers investigated a cohort of 296 older participants, without cognitive decline at the start of the study and looked at the relationship between steps taken per day and cognitive decline measured both functionally and through biomarkers. The […]
It’s better to walk for longer
Most studies on stepping look at the impact of the number of steps taken on health outcomes but a new study based on data from the UK Biobank investigated the health outcomes according to how long participants walked each day. There were 33,560 participants in the study all of whom walked less than 8,000 steps […]
Exercise and Body Size/Shape
We have seen that exercise has a small but meaningful impact on body size in participants wishing to lose weight. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis (Jayedi et al. 2024) looked at the relationship between exercise and Body Mass Index (BMI), waist circumference and body fat. The researchers restricted their analysis to randomised controlled studies […]
Walking Away from Depression
Most of the evidence of the health benefits of reaching a target of 8,000-10,000 steps today is around cardio-metabolic benefits. A recent review and meta-analysis looked at the benefits of stepping and depression. Bizzozero-Peroni et al (2024) combined results from 33 studies involving 96,173 adults across 13 different countries to examine the relationship between step […]
Is health possible at every body size?
Quick Takeaway The Quick Takeaway [1] BMI is measured as weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared and is formally expressed in Kg per meter squared Kg/m². The Full Deal Introduction Body size is usually measured by Body Mass Index[1] (BMI) with BMI’s between 18.5 and 25 considered healthy, BMI’s between 25 and […]
What exactly is ultra-processed food and how bad is it for me?
The Quick Takeaway The Full Deal The term ultra-processed food (UPF) is used to refer to food that is energy dense and high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, and low in fibre. It is also used to describe foods that have been broken down and then processed to manufacture a finished food item with […]
How does sitting all day affect my health? Does exercise mitigate any damage?
The Quick Takeaway The Full Deal Introduction Sitting, or being sedentary, has been increasing since the middle of the last century, and the Covid 19 epidemic led to further increases in sedentary behaviour as more people worked from home, participated in video conferences and did their shopping on line. People are often unaware of just […]
Does exercise help with weight management?
The quick takeaway The full deal For those people familiar with the energy balance equation, simply stated as change in body size will equal the energy consumed from food minus the energy expended in activity, it seems obvious that exercise will influence body weight. If people consume the same number of calories and exercise more, […]