New perspective on essential health elements from the view of integration of sports and medicine: exercise is nutrition

Shi Xiaolong; Guo Jianjun; Wang Cong

doi:10.16689/j.cnki.cn11-9349/r.2026.01.009

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Electronic Journal of Metabolism and Nutrition of Cancer ›› 2026, Vol. 13 ›› Issue (1) : 59-64. DOI: 10.16689/j.cnki.cn11-9349/r.2026.01.009

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New perspective on essential health elements from the view of integration of sports and medicine: exercise is nutrition

Shi Xiaolong, Guo Jianjun, Wang Cong

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Abstract

Based on a clear framework for the connotation of the integrated sports-medicine health promotion system, this study proposes a novel concept of health elements—"exercise is nutrition"—through an analysis of the relationship between health elements and exercise. It posits that exercise is an irreplaceable health element for all populations, throughout the entire life course, and across all stages of disease development. Exercise not only serves as the foundation for physical health but also constitutes an essential component of mental health and social adaptation health. Health is conceptualized as a reserve, and insufficient exercise directly impacts an individual's health reserve, which can be quantified through medical and sports assessment examinations. Different foods provide various types of nutritional elements to the body, while different forms of exercise offer distinct exercise-related health elements. Exercise acts as a stimulus, and health represents adaptation; exercise provides the broadest, most natural, and most diverse forms of stimulation. Although existing research has positively explored the relationship between exercise and health elements, the notion of "exercise is medicine" primarily emphasizes the therapeutic effects of exercise, whereas "exercise is nutrition" highlights the life-oriented essence of exercise and its fundamental nature as a health element. From the perspective of sports-medicine integration, this paper reinterprets exercise as a health element, aiming to provide theoretical support for the development of sports-medicine integration and the advancement of the "Healthy China" initiative.

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Integration of sports and medicine / Health elements / Exercise is nutrition / Exercise is stimulus / Lifestyle / Hypokinetic disease / Health reserve / Health promotion

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Shi Xiaolong, Guo Jianjun, Wang Cong. New perspective on essential health elements from the view of integration of sports and medicine: exercise is nutrition[J]. Electronic Journal of Metabolism and Nutrition of Cancer. 2026, 13(1): 59-64 https://doi.org/10.16689/j.cnki.cn11-9349/r.2026.01.009

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