According to the much-respected Journal called the Archives of Internal Medicine if you diet without doing exercise you may be ridding yourself not just of fat but also bone density that is very important especially for older people. The research shows that men and women who diet by just cutting calorie intake and don’t complement their diet plans with exercise will have lower bone densities over time compared to those people who have exercise programs to lose weight and stay trim. In the research program almost 50 overweight men and women who averaged 57 years of age were studied.

The researchers organised three separate groups for the survey. Firstly there was a group who diet was calorie-restricted, secondly there was an exercise group and lastly for the sake of scientific accuracy they formed a control group.

The first group reduced their calorie intake by 16% over a 3-month period and then by 20% for a further 9 months. The second group was told to boost their energy expenditure by 16% for the first 3 months and 20% for the next 9 months but to maintain the same level of diet and the last group (the control group) were just given advice and information on healthy living.

The results showed that after a year the people in reduced calorie groups and the increased exercise group shed on average of 8.2 kilos and 6.7 kilos respectively, which on the face of it shows good weight loss results. However the researchers when measuring bone density realised that the low calorie group has lost around 2% of bone density on average. The researchers measured bone density in 3 different places that are considered to be high-risk for fractures namely the hip, the lower spine and the top area of the thighbone. The people who exercise had no significant changes in bone density. Older people must be careful to maintain bone density as it reduces naturally with age and this is what causes many elderly people to get broken bones when they fall.

At Ukmedix we believe very firmly that all sensible weight loss and healthy living plans should contain at least a little bit of regular exercise. Even a daily walk in the park can be of long lasting benefit for your health.