Cardio Before Chemicals

How to Triage an Internet Full of Health Advice

This essay is about how I’ve been thinking about health protocols in work and personal contexts. I’ve found it to be a useful heuristic for alleviating some of the worries I’ve had about health that are, relatively speaking, insignificant. Disclaimer: This essay is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Consult a qualified healthcare professional for personal guidance.

The Red-40 Herring

When it comes to longevity and healthspan, cardiovascular fitness and stress management are far more impactful than worrying about trace dietary elements like pesticides, artificial food dyes, or seed oils. Research consistently shows that poor fitness and chronic stress significantly raise the risk of chronic disease and early death, whereas the incremental risk from typical exposure to pesticides or food additives is minimal by comparison. In other words, if you’re not yet meeting basic exercise guidelines or have unmanaged stress, those “big rock” issues deserve attention long before fine-tuning things like avoiding seed oils or food coloring.

Physical inactivity is a major killer

The World Health Organization identifies insufficient physical activity as the 4th leading cause of early death globally. One CDC analysis estimated that about 8.3% of all deaths in U.S. adults 25+ are attributable to not getting enough exercise. In fact, being out-of-shape can be as dangerous as or even worse than other well-known risks. For example, a large study found that each step down in fitness level (e.g. from above-average to below-average) increased mortality risk by an amount comparable to or greater than the effect of smoking or having diabetes. On the flip side, being very fit yields huge benefits: men who reached “elite” cardiorespiratory fitness (top ~2% for their age) had around an 80% lower risk of dying over the long term than those with low fitness. There was no upper limit found in the data from this cohort study – more fitness was better, even at very high levels. This underscores that aerobic fitness is one of the most powerful modifiable predictors of longevity.

Chronic stress undermines health

Ongoing high stress (“allostatic load”) is likewise a serious bottleneck to long-term health. Stress contributes to hypertension, inflammation, and behavioral risks (like poor sleep or overeating) that damage the heart and metabolic health. Epidemiological studies show that people with high physiological stress burden have about a 22% higher all-cause mortality risk and 31% higher cardiovascular mortality risk compared to those with low stress load. In simpler terms, chronic stress is an independent risk factor for heart disease and reduced lifespan. The American Heart Association notes that negative mental states (like anxiety, depression, chronic anger) are linked to increased risk of heart disease and stroke, whereas positive mental well-being is associated with lower risk. Managing stress through exercise, social support, sleep, or relaxation techniques can therefore markedly improve health outcomes.

In short, if you are currently inactive or highly stressed, these two factors dominate your health risk profile. Improving fitness and stress levels can yield orders of magnitude greater benefits for longevity than eliminating minute dietary chemicals. Only once you’ve achieved a solid baseline of health (regular exercise, weight in check, stress under control) do the smaller tweaks like pesticide residue or food dye avoidance start to have any noticeable payoff.

Research on Pesticides, Food Dyes, and Seed Oils

Let’s examine what the research consensus says about these commonly feared food factors. How much do pesticide residues, artificial colorings, and “seed oils” actually matter for long-term health, especially relative to fitness and stress?

Pesticide residues in food

For the average consumer, regulatory agencies and studies indicate that trace pesticide residues on foods pose very low health risks. The European Food Safety Authority’s latest monitoring found risk from pesticide residues remains low for consumers. To put it in perspective, the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables strongly outweigh the hypothetical risks of the tiny pesticide amounts on them. A 2022 analysis even showed that people eating lots of high-pesticide produce had no significant increase in mortality risk compared to those eating little produce (if anything, they still had a slight trend toward lower risk). In contrast, those consuming plenty of low-pesticide produce (e.g. organic or low-residue types) saw a clear mortality benefit. The takeaway: eating the produce is far more important than avoiding pesticides. You generally don’t “earn” extra healthspan by obsessively avoiding trace pesticides until you’ve already maximized bigger factors (like not smoking, exercising, controlling blood pressure, etc.). So unless you’re a farm worker with high exposure, worrying about pesticide residues in your diet is a low-priority concern health-wise – especially if you’re not yet exercising regularly or managing stress.

Artificial food dyes

Synthetic food colorings (think Red #40, Yellow #5, etc.) are often viewed with suspicion, but their impact on health is relatively minor in the general population. Some scientific findings do flag specific concerns: for instance, Red Dye No.3 has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals at high doses, and a few clinical studies have found that a subset of children with ADHD may experience slightly worse hyperactive behavior after consuming certain artificial dyes. These results prompted calls to reduce dyes in foods marketed to kids. However, broad consensus (including an FDA expert panel) holds that for most people there isn’t solid evidence that normal dietary amounts of artificial colorings cause significant harm. The sensitive minority of children who react appear to have an idiosyncratic intolerance, rather than the dyes being broadly neurotoxic. In adults, there’s no credible evidence that approved food dyes (in the small quantities we typically ingest) meaningfully affect cancer risk, longevity, or other health outcomes. Of course, minimizing brightly dyed junk foods in favor of whole foods is generally good – but that’s because of the overall nutrition (sugar, calories, etc.), not the dye itself. Bottom line: unless you’ve already optimized all the major health inputs, cutting out food dyes is unlikely to move the needle on your lifespan or heart health. It’s a fine “last 1%” optimization if you want, but not worth stressing over (especially given stress itself is more harmful!).

“Seed oils” and dietary fats

The term “seed oils” usually refers to vegetable oils high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fats (like soybean, corn, safflower, sunflower, etc.). Online wellness forums sometimes vilify these oils, claiming they cause inflammation or other ills. However, nutrition research consensus does not support the idea that seed oils are inherently toxic – quite the opposite. Large epidemiological and clinical studies find that replacing animal fats (high in saturated fat) with these unsaturated vegetable oils improves cardiovascular outcomes. In multiple randomized trials, swapping out saturated fat for polyunsaturated vegetable oil cut heart disease incidence by ~30%, a benefit on par with taking a statin medication. Likewise, the American Heart Association’s reviews conclude that using unsaturated fats (including omega-6-rich oils) in place of saturated fats lowers LDL cholesterol and reduces heart disease risk. There’s little evidence in humans that typical amounts of omega-6 oils lead to harmful inflammation; in fact, these oils tend to reduce inflammation markers when part of a healthy diet (especially if omega-3 intake is adequate). To be sure, overall diet quality matters – diets overloaded with fried, ultra-processed foods (often cooked in seed oils) can be unhealthy, but largely due to excess calories, salt, etc., not the vegetable oil itself. If you’ve already nailed the basics (regular exercise, weight management, eating plenty of fruits/veggies, getting protein and fiber), then fine-tuning your fat sources (e.g. using olive oil or balanced fats) can be beneficial. But stressing over trace “seed oil” ingredients while ignoring your treadmill and stress levels would be missing the forest for the trees. By all credible accounts, moderate use of plant oils is vastly better than trans fats or heavy animal fats, and not a primary threat to longevity.

When to Worry: A Triaging Heuristic

Given the above, here’s a rule-of-thumb heuristic for when it makes sense to fret about pesticides, dyes, or seed oils in your diet – based on your fitness and stress levels:

1. First meet the fundamentals: If you aren’t yet achieving basic health guidelines (for exercise, stress, sleep, etc.), focus there first. For example, the standard recommendation is at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week (or 75 minutes vigorous) plus some strength training. If you fall short of that, your energy is far better spent going for a daily walk or gym session than buying organic everything. Likewise, if you’re chronically stressed out, work on stress management (through meditation, social support, adequate sleep, or even professional help) before worrying about whether your salad dressing has seed oil. Inactive, stressed individuals have magnitudes higher health risk that swamps any tiny theoretical gains from a pesticide-free or dye-free diet.

2. Build a solid fitness base: Once you do maintain a routine that keeps you aerobically fit (for instance, you can easily climb stairs, enjoy active hobbies, maybe even hit above-average VO₂ max for your age), that’s when you’ve earned the luxury to fine-tune smaller details. A good benchmark: if you are in at least the top 50% fitness for your age (or simply not in the bottom quartile) – meaning you have decent cardio capacity and muscle strength – then by all means, start thinking about optimizing micronutrients and minimizing potential toxins. Until then, the return on investment from improving fitness (or losing excess weight, if applicable) is massively higher than switching to organic foods or avoiding certain ingredients.

3. Get stress to a manageable level: Similarly, ensure your stress and mental health are under control. This doesn’t mean living zen 24/7, but you should have coping strategies so that stress isn’t chronically elevating your blood pressure or inflammation. If you find yourself with persistent anxiety, burnout, or poor mental health (all linked to higher cardiac risk ), addressing that (through therapy, relaxation practices, lifestyle changes) will likely extend your healthspan more than eliminating red dye #40 from your snacks. Once you have a handle on stress – you feel relatively resilient, sleep well, and maintain a positive outlook – then you can afford to worry about lower-order risks like chemicals in food. It’s a matter of triage: deal with the big threats stress poses to your heart and immune system before tweaking minor dietary exposures.

4. Then refine diet quality: After (and only after) the above bases are covered, turn to optimizing your diet’s finer points. At this stage, it can make sense to: choose whole foods over processed (incidentally cutting out many artificial additives), opt for organic or wash produce if you want to further minimize pesticides, select natural colorings or avoid dyed candies, and choose healthy fats (e.g. olive, avocado, or moderate vegetable oils rather than shortening or excessive omega-6). These steps can slightly stack the odds in favor of longevity – but their impact is modest compared to the foundational behaviors. Notably, by the time someone is fit, lean, and stress-managed, they’re likely already eating a reasonably nutritious diet (because diet fuels fitness and affects mood). So the remaining tweaks (pesticide avoidance, etc.) are “finishing touches.” Think of it like building a house: exercise, sleep, not smoking are the foundation and frame; only after that do you paint the walls with the perfect non-toxic paint.

Conclusion: Boulders First, Pebbles Second

In summary, the research consensus emphasizes the big-ticket factors for a long, healthy life. Regular physical activity, good cardiorespiratory fitness, and low chronic stress load have a dramatic impact on reducing mortality risk. By contrast, the hazards from common food chemicals – within regulated amounts – are minor and often not conclusively proven to harm health in typical exposures. Public health data affirm that being sedentary or highly stressed is far more dangerous than, say, occasionally eating non-organic produce or a snack with Red 40. This doesn’t mean dietary quality doesn’t matter – it does, a lot! – but it means the basics of diet (overall whole-foods pattern, moderate calories, balanced macro- and micronutrients) matter infinitely more than specific trace components. Indeed, eating plenty of vegetables (even if conventionally grown) will help you more than avoiding every pesticide but eating poorly.

So when should you start worrying about pesticides, dyes, seed oils, etc.? Only after you’ve handled the fundamentals: You consistently exercise, your weight and blood pressure are in a healthy range, you don’t smoke or drink excessively, and you feel mentally well. At that point, fine-tuning environmental and dietary minutiae might take you from good to great. Until then, let the small things lie – and direct your worry (and effort) toward proven, significant levers like breaking a sweat most days and finding ways to keep daily stress in check. That prioritization is strongly supported by medical evidence and will give you the best odds of maximizing your longevity and healthspan.

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Sources

World Health Organization – Physical inactivity as a leading risk factor for noncommunicable diseases

Cleveland Clinic / JAMA Network – No Ceiling to Mortality Benefits of Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Patients Undergoing Stress Testing

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) – Deaths attributable to inadequate exercise

American Journal of Preventive Medicine – Meta-analysis on stress (allostatic load) and mortality

American Heart Association – Stress and Heart Disease statements

European Food Safety Authority – Annual report on pesticide residues

Environmental International (Harvard study) – Fruit/veg intake, pesticides, and mortality

Harvard Health Publishing – FDA panel on food dyes and hyperactivity

Center for Science in the Public Interest – Toxicology of food dyes (animal studies)

American Heart Association Advisory – Replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated (“seed”) oils benefits