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My neighbor Samy is a running freak. He runs twice a day. He probably runs more than I have sex in a week.
Years of running make Samy look like one of those elite marathoners or high-jumpers. His legs are like matchsticks, his face gaunt like an anorexic model.
Once I ask him why he has to run like an Olympian. He tells me his family has a history of heart disease. Running is a form exercise which keeps his heart healthy and prevents him from getting a heart attack like his father.
So I tell Samy he doesn’t have to bust his ass running everyday because there’s another effective way to prevent a heart attack.
Bullshit, Samy says.
I told Samy what he has to do to keep his heart healthy without running.
Where’s the proof? he says. Running is the best and the only way to keep the heart healthy.
I try to protest but he cuts me off.
You’re just am ex-model, he says. What do you know?
Samy died last week. He had a heart attack while doing what he loved most – running.
I won’t speculate the cause of his heart attack. But if only I’d shown Samy a recent study, he might have lived. A study that shows exercise is no more effective than dieting to prevent a heart attack.
This study finds that calorie restriction alone is as effective as exercise to improve the risk of coronary heart disease in normal and overweight adults. Put simply, dieting alone prevents heart attack.
Yesterday I visited Samy’s grave. I brought him lilies. I said him a prayer and placed the lilies on his grave. Under the lilies, I tucked an A4 paper – a print-out of the study’s conclusion. The proof he wanted.
Samy probably has all the time in the world to read the paper. But what do I know? I’m just an ex-model.
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7 responses so far ↓
1 mel // Mar 30, 2007 at 10:31 am
i feel sorry for your friend. He should have listen to you.
2 nazlihaffiz // Mar 30, 2007 at 10:33 am
i agree that dieting would help in preventing heart disease.
but then a person should look carefully what ‘dieting’ means.
a well structured diet with all the necessary nutrients, vitamins, etc would fit the definition well.
but saying dieting alone prevents heart attack is inaccurate and could be misleading.
the heart is a muscle which needs to be loaded from time to time. it doesn’t necessarily need to be heavy and/or strenuous exercise as walking and chores would be beneficial to a certain. without exercise at all, there would be muscle loss or atrophy.
especially in overweight adults, dieting alone may not be enough.
i would say working towards and gaining balance between diet and exercise would be the best choice for most, if not all, adults.
3 wamylove // Mar 30, 2007 at 10:48 am
I know another guy who never smoked or drank, was deacon in his church and died at 56 of a heart attack while jogging. My uncle who is so afraid of heart disease that he plays intense tennis for hours had heart surgery for arrythmia and tachycardia and had to go under again when he resumed this activity. I have a friend who was a marathoner who is having his ankle fused because the collagen is gone. I do yoga, weights and Pilates in moderation. The body was not meant to be over stressed and moderation is the key.
4 Ruby Lee // Mar 30, 2007 at 10:53 am
The study doest not lie. Calorie restriction (dieting) alone is as good as exercise in improving the risk of CHD.
However I have to agree that probably a combination of exercise and dieting is better.
5 Ruby Lee // Mar 30, 2007 at 11:03 am
wamylove,
You’re right I suppose. Moderation is the key.
Like a car’s engine, if you redline the heart too much, it might burst.
6 PJ // Mar 30, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Poor mr samy. RIP
7 One Simple Way to Develop a Heart Attack // Apr 5, 2007 at 9:34 am
[…] Maybe she wants to die like “You’re just an ex-model, what do you know?” old Mr Samy. […]
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