A group of doctors recommend that if you want to lose weight, you should focus more on reducing your sugar and carbohydrate consumption instead of sweating out in the gym.
Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist and co-author of an article published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, blamed the food and drink industry for the "obesity epidemic." He argued that people become overweight because the marketing strategies used by this industry convinced them that they can offset unhealthy diet by exercising. The doctors published the editorial to debunk a "false perception" that exercise can aid in weight loss.
"An obese person does not need to do one iota of exercise to lose weight, they just need to eat less. My biggest concern is that the messaging that is coming to the public suggests you can eat what you like as long as you exercise," Dr. Malhotra told BBC News.
"That is unscientific and wrong. You cannot outrun a bad diet."
The doctors suggest adopting a diet high in fat but low in sugar and carbohydrates instead of increasing one's physical activity. They also appealed to celebrities and known personalities to stop liaising with the food and drink industry in what they call "manipulative marketing," according to The Guardian.
This recommendation, expectedly, sparked a debate among health experts. Some believe that the study downplays the importance of physical activity not just for weight gain prevention, but also for risk prevention of health conditions associated with obesity.
"They're ignoring not just thousands, but tens of thousands of articles showing the importance of exercise for weight control," James O. Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado in Aurora, told LiveScience. "I think it's a disservice to the science of exercise physiology."
