"Why runners can't eat whatever they want"

Galatea_Stone

I think many of us have read or heard about the science discussed in this article before now, but I thought it might be worth discussing.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303949704579461381883678174?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303949704579461381883678174.html

A growing body of research shows the error of that thinking. A study published in the current edition of Missouri Medicine found that 50 men who had run at least one marathon a year for 25 years had higher levels of coronary-artery plaque than a control group of sedentary men. A British Medical Journal study published this year compared the carotid arteries of 42 Boston Marathon qualifiers with their much-less active spouses. "We hypothesized that the runners would have a more favourable atherosclerotic risk profile," says the article. As it turned out, that hypothesis was wrong.

A small body of research suggests that heart problems may arise not in spite of extreme-endurance exercise but because of it. That has led some cardiologists to theorize that, beyond a certain point, exercise stops preventing and starts causing heart disease.

"Studies support a potential increased risk of coronary artery disease, myocardial fibrosis and sudden cardiac death in marathoners," Peter McCullough, a Baylor University cardiologist, wrote as lead author of an editorial in the current Missouri Medicine.

But many cardiologists are skeptical. "The science establishing a causal link between vigorous exercise and coronary disease is shaky at best," said Aaron Baggish, a Massachusetts General Hospital cardiologist who does triathlons and marathons. Even so, he said, "I've never once told a patient they need to run marathons or race triathlons to maximize health, as this is not accurate."

So, what are your thoughts? Is it the long-term exertion from engaging in marathons, ultra-marathons, triathlons, etc. causing the increased risk of CAD or the cookies and ice cream consumed to meet the calorie requirements to sustain the extreme workouts? Is it a combination of both?

I would tend to think that the extreme exertion has the potential to damage the heart and coronary arteries slightly more than the diet, particularly if the evidence indicates that less active people with similar diets of cookies and ice cream have fewer cases of CAD within a control population. But I don't know.

tabbyblack13

I would think that it's the food causing the issue. They may be burning caloires but the type of food they eat may have a bigger effect on their bodies.

Galatea_Stone

How do they explain the reduction in cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, etc. in these athletes, but the atherosclerotic profile is still worse? In the less active group, it's the opposite results. Because the tests were based on spousal groups, couldn't one surmise that the diets are generally similar among the participants (spouse to spouse at least)?

ElliottTN

(quoting this from memory from previous discussions so scientific backing on what I say is zilch as of now)

But from every article I remember reading or discussion I've had about this I believe the consensus was that high endurance activities such as marathons is actually not very good for your heart...as it is a muscle..and gets torn down and rebuilt as a muscle would, sometimes with thicker walls or something along those lines. I think I remember reading that a good majority of the time that marathoners have cardiac issues it arises from an enlarged heart usually caused by their training.

I could be way off on what I remember reading or so don't take that as a fact by any means.

A marathon is still on my bucket list though (one month until my first!)

asdelmonte

Could it be that these are people who maybe would have been dead at 30 from heart disease if they didn't run marathons?

lorierin22

As far as your first question...I have no idea. Your second question though...I don't think that it is safe to draw that conclusion. My husband and I both work outside of the home and we have very different meals for breakfast and lunch. We also have very different snacking behaviors. Even though we eat pretty much the same thing for dinner, we don't eat the same amount. We may have something high in cholesterol or sodium, but I am not eating nearly as much of it as he is.


Somewhat unrelated, but when I was younger I was diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse. In explaining my limitations, the dr. said you can do most of things you always did.."just don't try to go out and run a Marathon or anything." Those words stuck...I guess because my 18 year old self was thinking...who would be dumb enough to run 26 miles on purpose? Fast forward to a few years ago when I decided to start training for my first half. I went to the cardiologist just to get things checked out before I started on my journey. Turns out I was misdiagnosed (apparently they overdiagnosed this a lot in the 1990's) and I was cleared to run as much as I wanted. It was just always interesting to me that the first doctor chose that activity as the one to avoid.

MizzEngelChen

I remember when I learned about cardiovascular diseases during my M.Sc. course, we discussed something that may be relevant for this topic. As you do more cardio exercises you train your heart to it pumps more blood to your body. This, however, decreases the time you heart itself receives blood, the diastole. The conclusion was: everything in moderation. Cardio is good for you but don't overdo it because it could actually be bad for your heart.

krawhitham

There is nothing to take from this "study"

The sample size is 50 men in the first example, and 42 men in the second. These are not numbers we can deduce anything from. It's more likely that all of these men had genetic cholesterol issues.

For example, my father is a very fit man. Lifts weights and runs. His father had a heart attack young and was never very physically fit. My father never had a heart attack, but he does have high cholesterol despite not eating anything with cholesterol in it.

My father's family is Lebanese, so we have eaten a STRICT Mediterranean diet our whole lives, and that goes double for my grandfather.

Anyway, this study's sample size is too small to deduce anything at all.

ThickMcRunFast

Ugh, how did I know this would come up?

Interesting preliminary result, however, there were some odd things in the study

1) they did not control for the diameter of arteries. Endurance runners tend to have 'wide pipes', so having more plaque doesn't necessarily mean having more blockages.
2) something like 52% of the runners in the studies were smokers or former smokers.
3) the runners still had lower weight, blood pressure, resting heart rates, diabetes rates, and higher HDL averages.

And yes, small sample size.

Still, and interesting result. I'm curious to see what the results would be from a larger sample size