{"id":2128,"date":"2009-06-26T03:42:43","date_gmt":"2009-06-26T01:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.ultimatefatburner.com\/?p=2128"},"modified":"2015-02-16T09:02:27","modified_gmt":"2015-02-16T14:02:27","slug":"extra-pounds-kill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/extra-pounds-kill\/","title":{"rendered":"A Few Extra Pounds Won’t Kill You"},"content":{"rendered":"

In fact, they may prolong your life a bit.<\/a><\/p>\n

The report, published online last week in the journal Obesity, found that overall, people who were overweight but not obese \u2014 defined as a body mass index of 25 to 29.9 \u2014 were actually less likely to die than people of normal weight, defined as a B.M.I. of 18.5 to 24.9.<\/p>\n

By contrast, people who were underweight, with a B.M.I. under 18.5, were more likely to die than those of average weight. Their risk of dying was 73 percent higher than that of normal weight people, while the risk of dying for those who were overweight was 17 percent lower than for people of normal weight.<\/p>\n

The finding adds to a simmering scientific controversy over the optimal weight for adults. In 2007, scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute reported that overweight adults were less likely than normal weight adults to die from a variety of diseases, including infections and lung disease.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This comes as no surprise to me: some extra\u00a0body mass\u00a0represents a metabolic reserve that people can rely on during prolonged illness or recovery from injury\/surgery, which are highly catabolic states.<\/p>\n

I have a pretty low bodyfat percentage, but don’t pretend it’s for my health.\u00a0 In fact, I’ve\u00a0occasionally joked that there are very few survival advantages associated with it: in a famine, I’d be the first to keel over from starvation; in a boating accident, I’d be the first to drown (I’m a good swimmer, but can’t float… if I don’t stay in constant motion, I sink like a rock); trapped in the snow, I’d be the first to\u00a0succumb to hypothermia\u00a0(fat is an insulator).\u00a0 In reality, the only benefit of being as “healthy” as I am, is that I stand a better chance of fighting off – or running away from – an attacker.\u00a0 Being lean – ironically – is a condition born of\u00a0(relative) affluence…I don’t have to worry about where my next meal is coming from, and I have the leisure to perform specialized exercise (vs. backbreaking labor).<\/p>\n

This is a site about losing weight and getting into shape, of course… but the moral of the story is that\u00a0I don’t believe everyone can – or should – aspire to be as thin as humanly possible; or torture themselves trying to achieve a largely\u00a0illusory physical perfection<\/a>.\u00a0 As I’ve pointed out before, it’s not psychologically healthy…and\u00a0isn’t particularly physically healthy\u00a0either.\u00a0 To make a long story short: you don’t have to be model-thin or shredded if\u00a0 – ultimately – health and longevity is the goal.\u00a0 What’s realistically attainable and sustainable is more important.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In fact, they may prolong your life a bit. The report, published online last week in the journal Obesity, found that overall, people who were overweight but not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14,28,29],"tags":[235,811,1863,1236,1703],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2128"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9662,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128\/revisions\/9662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}