Why aim for a smaller waist....

Today's Post: Monday, 7-11-2011

A local health professional mails out periodic newsletters with some health news items to promote his work.

His recent newsletter had that doctors at Harvard have found that belly size may be more indicative of health problems than pounds or BMI measures.

Abdominal fat, and visceral fat which is inside your body but increases your waist size, they now know tend to indicate future problems with heart disease, strokes, and type 2 diabetes and other problems.

They said that health risks begin to increase at a waist measurement of 31 inches for women and 37 inches for men.

A waist size of 35 inches or more for women and 40 inches or more for men puts them in the danger range.

Clearly the things that reduce visceral and belly fat are health protective according to this measure. (It also helps that having a smaller belly helps you look better.)

What to do if you have a bigger waist than these standards:

1. The most effective thing you can do is exercise. Doing some vigorous and some moderate exercise each week helps.

One study found that exercise helped twice as much as the other solution they covered.

(Even people who are of normal weight but don’t exercise tend to have bigger bellies and hidden visceral fat inside them. People of the same weight who exercise have far less.)

2. That solution was to eat foods high in soluble fiber. The best sources are beans and lentils and nonstarchy vegetables. Oatmeal and oat bran are high in it. But oatmeal is a bit higher in glycemic index. And steel cut oats and rolled oats are far lower in glycemic index than instant or quick cooking oatmeal. Apples are high in it. But apples are best for you if organic and unwaxed which can be a bit hard to find.

3. The other solution which for some people can be as much as 70% or more of the effect they need is to cut way back on sugar and to eliminate packaged snacks, packaged desserts, most fast food, and all soft drinks.

This also includes eliminating all refined grain foods. And, cutting way back on oils high in omega 6 and eliminating all such oils that have been partially or fully hydrogenated also helps. Eliminating high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners also helps.

In practice, these often go together. A packaged snack may have little in it after the refined grains, junk oils, and sweeteners are removed.

4. Monosaturated oils such as extra virgin olive oil and found in avocados and nuts tend to reduce belly fat. Some studies suggest they do so directly. And, they clearly do as replacements for oils high in omega 6 and all such oils that have been partially or fully hydrogenated. Best of all, monosaturated oils consistently have been found to produce health benefits directly.

5. Eat more protein. But eat beans and lentils and nuts and naturally fed animals to the best extent you can. 100 % grass fed beef and lamb and wild caught fish are examples. If you do get animal protein from meat from grain fed animals, eat less and eat the leanest most fat trimmed version you can.

Protein is most filling and helps you eat less of the junkier foods. And these kinds of protein sources tend to produce the best health results.

6. Watch far less TV. Doing so can give you the time to exercise while watching TV burns fewer calories than sleeping! In addition, much of commercial TV entertainment has ads for the foods and drinks best avoided.

People who watch 14 hours or less of TV a week are less fat and have smaller waists than people who watch 28 or more!