Why even a bit of fat loss is so good for you….

Today's Post, Monday, 6-1-2009

You may have read that if you are overfat and don’t exercise, getting into some form of safe, regular exercise will improve your health even if you lose no weight on the scale right away. We’ve posted that here several times.

You may also have read that losing enough fat to cause you to lose as little as 5 % of your bodyweight will give you health benefits you might have thought you’d need to lose four or five times as much to get.

If you lose the fat weight by beginning to exercise, the direct benefits of exercising are one of the reasons. (And regular exercise makes it dramatically more likely the weight you lose is fat instead of bone or muscle – plus dramatically more likely the fat you lose will stay lost.)

But the health benefits of losing even 5 or 10 % of your bodyweight are so dramatic, clearly something else must be happening too. In fact, losing that much by positive diet changes only has almost as good effects. So what gives?

Earlier today I read the reason why.

In a NewsMax Health email in a “Blaylock Tip” titled: "Beer Gut Could Lead to Deadly Diabetes",

DR Blaylock says that the fat INSIDE your belly, the internal abdominal fat, studies have found, releases lots of chemicals and hormones that cause or help cause “diabetes, hypertension, and abnormal blood lipids (high LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides with low HDL).” And, as we’ve noted in our posts, that combination of bad readings, low HDL plus high triglycerides and high LDL means that you have lots of the small particle LDL that glues itself into the surface of your blood vessels and directly causes plaque build up and cardiovascular disease.

Now, here’s the key fact in his email.:

Losing even 5 to 10 percent of your weight reduces internal fat by more like 30 %!

Another study he reports found that 70 % of people who had metabolic syndrome were cured when they lost that much internal abdominal fat. A separate study helps explain why, that much abdominal fat loss causes a dramatic reduction of insulin resistance. That not only can cure metabolic syndrome, it can prevent or help cure type 2 diabetes.

And there is even more. Using surgery to remove virtually all the excess abdominal fat reduced “hypertension by 62 percent, diabetes by 77 percent, abnormal lipids by 70 percent, and sleep apnea by 86 percent.”

Among other things that shows that one of the most effective treatments for sleep apnea is fat loss that helps get rid of internal abdominal fat. This sounds like a way to cut sleep apnea out completely!

And, even a 5% drop in bodyweight can get rid of up to 30 % of internal abdominal fat.

Early to Rise also had an article recently on this topic.:

“This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com . “


Why Swimsuit Season Isn't the Only Reason to Reduce Your Waist Size

By Jonny Bowden

The main reason people over 65 wind up in the hospital is heart failure. And the very best predictor of whether or not you're likely to get heart failure might surprise you.

It's waist size.

A new study published in the journal Circulation tracked data from two Swedish population-based studies. Together, the studies included 80,000 men and women, aged 45-83. All participants filled in questionnaires about their height, weight, waist size, and other vital statistics. Researchers then followed the subjects for seven years.

The researchers found - not surprisingly - that being overweight was linked to a risk for heart failure. But they also found that even within the normal weight range (with a body mass index, or BMI, of 25 or less), those who had an extra 10 cm (about 4 inches) on their waist had about a 15 percent higher risk. This went up to 18 percent for those who were heavier (with a BMI of 30 or more).

Nutritionists and smart doctors have long known that a 35-inch waist for women and a 40-inch waist for men represent danger points for insulin resistance. And insulin resistance is the cornerstone of Metabolic Syndrome, also known as pre-diabetes, which significantly increases the risk for heart disease.

If your waist is over 35 inches (for women) or 40 inches (for men), it's time to start doing something about it. I've found that a low-carb diet is one of the most effective ways to combat belly fat and reduce the size of your waist.

[Ed. Note: In addition to eating a low-carb diet, you'll want to engage in regular exercise to help burn fat. For dozens of easy-to-follow exercises you can do at home, plus the latest breakthroughs in the health industry, sign up for ETR's free natural health newsletter right here.” (Go to http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com .)
“For more advice about staying fit and healthy, check out health expert Jonny Bowden's site, JonnyBowden.com.]”

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Here’s two of the best ways to lose inches off your waist and internal bodyfat too.:

1. So, a low carb diet, or at least one that removes the worst carbs close to completely, while adding more health OK proteins and oils such as grass fed beef, nuts, nonfat and very lowfat dairy, wild caught fish, extra virgin olive oil, and avocados AND a lot more green or nonstarchy vegetables not only is one of the best ways to lose fat, it’s quite effective at losing this internal bodyfat as well.

Plus the foods with monosaturated fatty acids, what Prevention magazine labels, MUFA, in nuts, extra virgin olive oil, and avocados apparently are directly effective in helping to reduce belly fat. (Their book is called the Flat Belly Diet.)

You also need to eliminate all hydrogenated vegetable oils, most butter and other dairy fat, most other kinds of oils, high fructose corn syrup, foods made with refined grains, and as much sugar as you can bring yourself to give up. (Sugar once or twice or even five times a week may be OK in small amounts if you eat this way otherwise and exercise regularly. Eating large amounts of sugar, eating it several times a day, or doing either while eating these other high carb and bad fat sources will grow internal belly fat.)

2. The most effective kinds of exercise to lose bodyfat, lose internal fat, and turn off insulin resistance have a key similarity. They may not last huge amounts of time. But they are vigorous and can be safe once you build up to it gradually and keep the high intensity per time brief.

What exercises do that?

Interval cardio, progressive strength training, playing competitive sports, jumping rope, using a mini-trampoline, quite brisk execution of martial arts moves or routines such as Tae Bo or Karate or Kung Fu all work.

And, many of these are in fact on record as being effective at losing fat and belly fat.