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I found a really interesting article from The Telegraph on belly fat. You can read the original article here. The gist of the article was that belly fat is the worst fat you can have. Even if you are a normal weight, but have belly fat, your risk of heart attack is greater. Enjoy.
Belly fat more important than being obese
Having a fat belly doubles your heart attack risk even if you aren’t obese, a study has found.
Those of normal weight but a bigger belly have more chance of heart problems than those who are obese but not carrying their excess weight around the waist.
Normal weight with belly fat dangerous
Researchers tested the hypothesis that people with normal weight and central obesity would have more heart problems than people with normal weight and normal fat distribution.
It comes after body mass index (BMI), which is weight relative to height and used to categorize adults as underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese, fails to account for the amount and distribution of fat and muscle.
In 1997 to 2000 the study enrolled 1,692 American residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, aged 45 years or older. The sample was representative of the county population for age and sex.
Participants underwent a clinical examination and measurements were taken of weight, height, waist circumference and hip circumference.
They were then followed-up from 2000 to 2016 for the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks, using linked medical records from the Rochester Epidemiology Project.
It emerged that participants with a normal BMI and central obesity had an approximately two-fold higher long-term risk of suffering a major adverse cardiovascular event compared to participants without central obesity, regardless of their BMI.
“See your doctor if your waist is bigger than your hips,” said study author Dr. Jose Medina-Inojosa, of the Mayo Clinic and The International Clinical Research Centre of St. Anne’s University Hospital in the Czech Republic.
Dr. Medina-Inojosa continued: “People with a normal weight but a fat belly have more chance of heart problems than people without a fat belly, even if they are obese according to BMI.
“This body shape indicates a sedentary lifestyle, low muscle mass, and eating too many refined carbohydrates.
Insulin and insulin resistance
Having a high insulin level is indicative of insulin resistance. When you have insulin resistance your body starts storing fat in the liver and pancreas and you are heading rapidly towards diabetes. One lab that you should get checked yearly is your fasting insulin. A cheaper way to know if your insulin is low is to check your ketones. As long as you have serum ketones you know your insulin levels are low.
Dr. Medina-Inojosa continued:
“The belly is usually the first place we deposit fat, so people classified as overweight BMI but without a fat belly probably have more muscle which is good for health.
“Muscle is like a metabolic storehouse and helps decrease lipid and sugar levels in the blood.”
Dr. Medina-Inojosa says that overweight and obese people with central obesity might also have more muscle mass which could be protective.
The findings are due to be presented at the annual congress of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC) in Slovenia
That is the article folks. Here is the link to the original news article. Get rid of your belly risk. Insulin resistance is the key to losing weight. The more processed foods and carbohydrates you eat the more your insulin resistance. Your BMI is tied to your diabetes risk.
The Loveland Medical Clinic runs the 22 Day Weight Loss Program which teaches people how to normalize their insulin levels which improves their health. You can get off your diabetes meds and blood pressure meds and lose weight at the same time. All of our contact info in on the upper right of this page. Thanks for reading this article.
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