Killer Fat Cells

The middle-aged spread. The beer gut. The spare tire. The pot belly. Love handles.

In the end, let's just call it what it is: FAT. It doesn't deserve a cute name.

As we age, we tend to put on weight, especially around our mid sections. This is linked to various factors, including an age related loss of muscle mass, which can be reversed with training, and an increase in the tendency to form fat, which cannot.

All of us have a genetic tendency towards fatness or thinness. Fat or thin, we also have a natural tendency to deposit fat in one area of the body or another. Some of us put on fat around our waists: the ?apple? shape. Others of us put on fat on our backsides and thighs: the ?pear? shape. Men tend to be apples, women tend to be pears, but there are plenty of male pears and female apples out there.

Even for those of us who are in a healthy weight range, the concentration of fat around our mid section has been shown to increase the risk of Type II diabetes (see below) heart-attack, high blood pressure and strokes. Abdominal fat not only ruins your figure, it ruins your health.

One way to determine if you've got too much fat around the middle is to calculate your waist-hip ratio. This is a simple ratio of the measurement of your waist at its narrowest point divided by the measurement of your hips at their widest point.

For women, this ratio should be less than 0.8. For men, less than 0.95.

Over this ratio, there is an increased occurrence of heart disease.

One study showed that men under 40 with no symptoms or outward signs of heart disease who had a high waist-hip ratio had more plaques in their coronary arteries. The same was found in women under 50 in another, similar study.

So pull out your measuring tape, and trade your apple for a pear!

Remember: a pear a day keeps the doctor away!

Type II Diabetes

Type II, or Adult-onset diabetes, is an imbalance between the body's ability to produce insulin and the body's need for insulin. When we are overweight, we have more cells that require sugar, and our capacity for producing insulin is usually limited.

Losing weight can help control diabetes to the point where no medications may be necessary. Many Type II diabetics require some oral medication, and some require insulin.

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