Max exercise benefits for men, women

Do you want to exercise your options for better health? It turns out that women and men have been making quite different choices, according to a new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Researchers looked at data on leisure-time physical activity for over 400,000 U.S. adults for 22 years. They found that around a third of women engaged in aerobic activity, while 43 percent of men did. And that wasn’t the only difference they noticed. Guys needed 300 minutes of moderate or vigorous exercise weekly to gain the maximum survival benefit — they reduced their risk of dying by 18 percent during the study period. Women only needed 140 minutes for the same risk reduction. And men who got half that amount of physical activity weekly (150 minutes moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise) lowered their risk of death by 15 percent.

Strength-building exercise also exposed differences: Men who did strength-building regularly saw their risk of death fall by 11 percent; for women it was reduced by 19 percent. The best protection for men came from three sessions weekly; for women, this study showed one session offered the same benefits, but we think women get more benefits from more strength training.

Protein proposals

In 2022, around 23 million Americans adopted the 20 percent protein-based ketogenic diet and others opted for the 30 percent protein Paleolithic diet. In contrast, the recommended dietary allowance for protein for adults is 10 percent of calories.

For folks under age 50, it’s smart not to overdo protein and to eliminate sources like red meat and processed red meat. Let plant-based proteins in legumes, tofu and whole grains, as well as healthy protein in skinless poultry and fish, fuel your strength. We think that if you are over 50, getting 10 percent of your calories from protein may be too little. More healthy protein coming from large quantities of plant-based proteins and fish is needed to prevent frailty. The optimal pattern is to boost protein above 10 percent for four out of every five weeks — then take a break for a week and go for less than 10 percent.

A study published in Nature Metabolism found that when an all-the-time, protein-heavy, red-and-processed meat diet delivers 22 percent of daily calories, it amps up the process that promotes artery-clogging atherosclerotic plaque.