Older adults who eliminated 250 calories a day — about the same amount found in a 20-ounce soda or a candy bar — and paired it with moderate exercise had greater improvement in aortic stiffness, a prognostic marker for cardiovascular risk, compared with people who only exercised or who exercised and cut more than twice as many calories, according to research published on August 2 in the journal Circulation.“This study provides evidence that for older adults who are obese, combining aerobic exercise with a moderate decrease in daily calorie intake may help to reduce aortic stiffness,” says Tina E. Brinkley, PhD, lead author of the study and associate professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at the Sticht Center for Healthy Aging and Alzheimer’s Prevention at Wake Forest School of Medicine in…