According to a new study, increased physical activity cannot mitigate the negative effects of poor diet on the risk of death.

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The results of the research carried out at the University of Sydney show that those who both exercise a lot and eat a high-quality diet have the lowest risk of death.

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Using a large population study (346,627 British adults) from the UK Biobank, the researchers investigated the individual and combined effects of exercise and diet on overall mortality, cardiovascular mortality, and obesity-related cancer mortality. Their findings were recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The UK Biobank is a large-scale biomedical cohort study that collects comprehensive biological, behavioral and clinical data from participants.

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With a high-quality diet, less red meat, in particular processed meat, was consumed overall; at least five portions of fruit and vegetables were eaten daily and two portions of fish per week. According to the study, the risk of death among people with high levels of physical activity and a high-quality diet was 17 percent lower for all causes, percent for cardiovascular diseases and 27 percent lower for certain types of cancer than among people with the worst diet and little physical activity.

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Lead author, associate professor Melody Ding from the Charles Perkins Centre and Sydney University School of Medicine and Health, said: “Both regular physical activity and a healthy diet play an important role in promoting health and longevity.

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“Some people may think they can offset the effects of a poor diet through high levels of exercise or the effects of low physical activity through a high-quality diet. However, the data shows that this is unfortunately not the case.”

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“A high-quality diet and sufficient physical activity is important to optimally reduce the risk of causes of death of all types, cardiovascular diseases and obesity-related cancers,” says co-author Joe Van Buskirk from the School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health.

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A few studies have already found that high-intensity exercise can counteract the adverse physiological responses to overeating. However, the long-term effects of the interaction between diet and exercise remain poorly researched. The results of this study confirm and underline “How important both physical activity and the quality of diet are to reduce the risk of death as much as possible,” says Associate Professor Ding.