Can Your Body Shape Predict Your Health?
Is it possible that just looking in the mirror might give you a clue of what is going on inside your body?
You may have heard about apple and pear shaped body types. It is true. Where you put on extra pounds may tell us what metabolism issues we should be thinking about.
You are an apple if you tend to gain weight around your middle and under your chin. Your shape is wider in the middle, narrower at top and bottom. Apple shape is generally associated with insulin resistance, or what is commonly referred to as metabolic syndrome.
Extra pounds situated below the waist in hips, bottom, and thighs is called pear shape. Pears are narrower from waist up, wider at the bottom, like a pear. This shape is associated with estrogen excess, detox issues, and dysbiosis.
There is definitely overlap. Most of us are a bit of a mixture of the two shapes. But apple shape seems to be increasingly prevalent. For that reason, this article will mostly focus on apple shape.
So, what’s a body to do?
Check a couple measurements to better know where you stand.
Measure 1) around your waist, and then 2) measure around your hips (widest part of your bottom). If your waist measures 34 inches or more you probably want to start learning about insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.
Divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement. For instance, if your waist measures 35 and your hips measure 39… 35 divided by 39 = .89. If the result is greater than 0.85 this is pointing in the direction of insulin resistance.
Not there yet? If you are approaching these numbers don’t wait, go ahead and learn what to do to keep from getting there.
Insulin resistance is a process that contributes to metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome is characterized by abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and hyperlipidemia (abnormalities in certain cholesterol markers). It is now considered a major health hazard (1) and has even been called a “global pandemic.”(2)
One is considered overweight if BMI (body mass index) is 25-29.9, and obese if BMI is 30 or more. If you know your height and your weight, you can easily find your BMI here (https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm).
Metabolic syndrome is serious. It increases your chances of developing heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
Insulin in our body ushers glucose into our cells. Our cells need the glucose for energy. Our pancreas is programmed to make more insulin if there is a lot of glucose floating around in our bloodstream. Insulin resistance occurs when our cells already have plenty of glucose. The cell becomes “resistant” to insulin.
Ultimately, even more insulin can’t get all the glucose into cells and out of circulation. So, our liver takes over and turns the excess glucose into fat.
Lab results that may be helpful would be post meal glucose, fasting insulin, and triglycerides. Elevated fasting blood sugar and HgbA1c are late markers. By the time they show elevations you are likely already 10-20 years into the above scenario.
Conventional medical practitioners put these folks on pharmaceutical agents/medications such as statin/anti-cholesterol, blood sugar lowering, and/or blood pressure-lowering medications. Unfortunately, these 1) don’t reverse the process, and 2) come with numerous side effects.
In functional medicine, we like to get to the root of the problem, and reverse the process.
Yes, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome Can. Be. Reversed!
So, what might be contributing to this process in your body?
Diet is at the top of the list, though not the only contributing factor. Americans get more than 50 percent of daily calories from processed foods like flour, sugar and industrial seed oils. These are virtually devoid of nutrients. Simple carbs like flour and sugar increase blood sugar, which is the beginning of insulin resistance. Plus, that only leaves 50% of what we eat to get all the nutrients we need. Right. Not happening.
Gut dysbiosis. That means too much “bad” bacteria, and not enough “good” bacteria in our gut. Seventy percent of our immune system and 90% of our serotonin is located in the gut. About 20% of our thyroid activity actually happens in the gut. Of course, our gut digests food and carefully selects what to send into our body and what to discharge as waste. All of these functions happen poorly if we have dysbiosis.
Stress. Most of us are living in some level of “fight or flight” much of the time these days. Our adrenals cannot sustain that level of intensity. High and low cortisol throw off well-intentioned processes such as thyroid, hormones, sleep, digestion, and gut microbiome.
Lack of exercise. Movement brings down blood sugar. It causes the cells to use up more glucose for energy. And it reduces stress.
What you can do right now to get rid of that apple shape and prevent or reverse insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome…
Eat real food. Eat like your ancestors did. Hunter-gatherers ate meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and some starchy tubers. They did not have obesity, cancer, heart disease, or diabetes. Actually, even once our more recent ancestors began agriculture and eating grains like wheat, corn, rice and oats, they still did not have these chronic diseases in large numbers until well into the twentieth century.
The explosion of modern convenience foods was the advent of routine use of non-nutritious food. These foods are made of flour, sugar and industrial seed oils (highly processed oils extracted from soybeans, corn, rapeseed [source of canola oil], cottonseed, and safflower seeds).
Ridding one’s daily diet of just these 3 substances will substantially reduce blood sugar, weight, waist measurement, blood pressure, lipids, and increase energy, thyroid/brain/adrenal function, and overall sense of well-being. Focus on meat, fish, eggs, fruits, non-starchy vegetables, nuts and seeds (soaked and dehydrated), and some starchy tubers (sweet potatoes, beets, squash, potatoes, plantains, cassava, yucca). And you will see results in as little as 2 weeks.(3)
Timed eating. We evolved to be in sync with the day/night cycle. Our metabolism has adapted to daytime food, nighttime sleep. Nighttime eating is associated with a higher risk of obesity, as well as diabetes.(4)
Your body’s natural clock is responsible for how much fat you burn.
Sunrise/daylight - insulin increases to meet food demands, melatonin decreases.
Sunset – melatonin increases to prepare you for sleep; insulin drops because your body expects you won’t be eating.
You may have heard of intermittent fasting. When eating earlier in the day and “fasting” for 12 hours or more overnight, insulin levels drop and insulin sensitivity improves. What’s even better is that hunger is decreased with this pattern.(5)
Eat more protein, especially early in the day. Ditch the flour products (toast, pancake, waffle, bagel, pastries) for breakfast. Eating protein (like eggs, meat, fish) early in the day is associated with less hunger later in the day and ultimately with weight loss.(6)
Get moving. Move around often, exercise in spurts here and there, and sit less. Better to exercise 5-30 minutes several times throughout your day, every day, than to do strenuous exercise for one hour 3 times a week, then sit for hours each day.(7)
Take frequent movement breaks during work hours. Run like a tiger is chasing you 1-2 times a week. Lift weights 1-2 times a week. Mix it up. Allow some of your movement to be restorative, clearing your mind, being in nature, taking in your surroundings, being grateful for the ability to move and see and enjoy.
Address your gut. It can be eye opening to have a stool test. But even without testing, you can assume that most of us have some level of “leaky gut” and dysbiosis. In leaky gut the tight junctions between cells lining your intestines are not in great shape so they allow substances such as whole proteins, bacteria and toxins to slip through the cracks and into our bodies. These wreak havoc in our bodies and contribute to disease, pain, thyroid dysfunction, inflammation, mood disorders, and more. Dysbiosis affects absorption of critical nutrients. You could be eating nutrient dense food but not absorbing the nutrients as well as you would like to think.
So, all in all, that extra weight around your middle is not your friend. The good news is that you can get rid of it, without fad diets or starving. And doing so will not only improve your body image but restore your energy and your health. It is easier than you think with evidence based information and solid support.
I am happy to help you do that. Contact me if you would like to meet individually, either virtually or in person. I am also offering a variety of groups. So far “Lose Weight, Naturally!” addresses the topics highlighted in this article. Check the website for more information on group care and for future groups on other subjects.
References:
1) Saklayen MG. The global epidemic of the metabolic syndrome. Curr Hypertens Rep. 2018;20(2):12.
2) Kelli HM, Kassas I, Lattouf OM. Cardio metabolic syndrome: a global epidemic. J Diabetes Metab. 2015;6(3):1-14.
3) Euro J Clin Nutr. 2015 Aug; 69(8): 944-8. Epub 2015 Apr 1.
4) University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "Timing meals later at night can cause weight gain and impair fat metabolism.” Science Daily, 2 June 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170602143816.htm>.
5) Cell Metabolism. Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress Even without Weight Loss in Men with Prediabetes. Volume 27, Issue 6, 5 June 2018, Pages 1212-1221.e3
6) Horm Res Paediatr. High-protein breakfast promotes weight loss by suppressing subsequent food intake and regulating appetite hormones in obese Chinese adolescents. 2015;83(1):19-25. Epub 2014 Jun 11.
7) Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2017 Oct;49(10):2040-2047.Television Viewing Time and Inflammatory-Related Mortality.