|
Fat at 40 is better than thin, scientists warn
"Contrary to the widely held belief that it is healthier to be slim, researchers in Japan found that the life expectancy of the overweight at 40 was six years longer than that of their thinner counterparts.
The study found that among those aged 40, the overweight category topped the polls in terms of the longest life expectancy, with expectations of an average of 40.5 extra years for men and 47 years for women. Those classed as "normal" weight followed closely behind, with 38.7 additional years expected among men and 46.3 among women, the study showed. However, researchers found that those defined as slim were bottom in terms of life expectancy, with 33.8 further years predicted among men and 41.1 among women.
Health concerns surrounding the slimmest also eclipsed those of the overweight, with higher risks of heart disease and other illnesses as they age, according to Masato Nagai, a graduate student involved in the research. "Those who are too slim are reportedly said to be at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and are more likely to develop pneumonia as nutritional deficiency lowers their resistive force," he said.
Last month, Danish researchers found that those with slim thighs measuring a circumference of less than 23 inches were at greater risk of heart disease and death. "
Unfortunately, some reporters just don't get it:
"Middle age spread link to frailty
People who are overweight or obese in middle-age run the risk of being frail in later life, say Finnish researchers."
Guess what this study actually found?
"A study of more than 1,000 men found the highest risk of death and illness in those who put on weight in their 40s but lost it when they got older."
That's right. Being fat didn't make them less healthy. Weight loss made them less healthy. Great big surprise, but apparently starvation isn't very good for you. It's actually an interesting little article once you see through the reporter's anti-fat bias.
Anyway, the point is relatively simple and I've made it before: fat or thin doesn't make you healthy or sick. Being healthy makes you healthy. Being thin can be unhealthy. Being fat can be unhealthy. Being thin can be healthy. Being fat can be healthy. Losing a bunch of weight and putting on a bunch of weight can both be unhealthy. So love your body. Nourish it well. Eat well, live well, and focus on being healthy, not on hitting a particular number on the scale. |
|
How many couples living together communicate with each other primarily through twitter or similar online services? |
|
|
Nov. 29th, 2009 @ 03:36 pm
|
|---|
|
Stars
|
Nov. 29th, 2009 @ 08:29 pm
|
|---|
|
A three page story written about something I believed when I was around five.
( More ) |
|
Escape from Recession: Sci-Fi Sales Up
Note that it is from April. I don't know what the numbers are right now.
I came across that article in this thread:
Sci-fi books in the doldrums?
And just for Carlos, I noticed a sensitive bit of cultural analysis from this account of a convention way back in 1986:
( Read more... ) |
|
It's time to start planning for the 12 days of Solstice! Anyone remember my post on this from last year? At any rate, you're all welcome to celebrate with us, especially those of you who are in town.
The 12 nights of Solstice start the evening before the day the solstice generally falls, and end New Year's day.
Night 1, Dec. 20/21: Pears should be eaten with dinner and a traditional Christmas tree (real, fake, potted, whatever,) set up in the living room this evening. Partridge and pear ornaments may be placed in the tree.
Night 2, Dec. 21/22: The lighting of the fires. During the day we decorate the tree and home with Christmas lights, (and turn them on in the evening and the rest of the evenings thereafter.) Chocolate turtles should be eaten for desert after dinner.
Night 3, Dec. 22/23: This one is easy. We eat chicken. (Three French Hens) And we can further decorate the house with wreathes and holly, if we feel like it.
Night 4, Dec. 23/24: I suppose just about any birds would do for four calling birds, but we could alternatively attempt to do something involving real birds, such as set out birdseed for the birds or go to the zoo. I'm pretty sure setting out birdseed is traditional, but I have also heard that if you feed the Canadian geese in the winter, they'll stick around in the summer, so you shouldn't. Perhaps there is a park somewhere that folks are allowed to feed the birds? Or we could go caroling!
Night 5, Dec. 24/25: Ring-shaped bread made with saffron. (Making bread at home will probably take all day.)
Night 6, Dec. 25/26: Roast goose and apples, celebrate Isaac Newton's birthday. Klarfax is not in favor of eating goose.
Night 7, Dec. 26/27: Swan shaped cookies?
Night 8, Dec. 27/28: Milk, milk, and more milk products. Drink like a baby cow! Maybe we'll even make cheese.
Night 9, Dec. 28/29: Everyone comes over and you have a dance party!
Night 10, Dec. 29/30: "Jump up and down day" seems like it'd get old after a few years. Not sure what to do with Ten Lords A-leaping. Address the children as adults day?
Night 11, Dec. 30/31: Listen to/play music together
Night 12, Dec. 31/Jan. 1: Drum in the New Year; in the morning clean up and haul out the trash.
Any further ideas? |
|
We are a nation plagued by disordered eating, a condition created, I believe, by the diet and food industries. What's the difference between an eating disorder and disordered eating? Degree, mostly. Disordered eating is bad for you. Eating disorders will kill you.
There is an obvious contradiction in telling you not to worry about what you eat and then telling you to eat well. The problem is that food paranoia leads to disordered eating, which leads to all sorts of bad things. You have to abandon your food paranoia before you can begin to eat well. You have to accept that hamburgers are not all bad (nutritionally, I'm not claiming that the cow is particularly happy about it,) that cupcakes have their time and place, and that butter is your friend before you can even do anything else.
We are a nation that has been deceived. Countless perfectly good, natural, real foods have been pushed off our tables by industrially-derived convenience items. Butter is a perfect example. Butter is made from cows, who cost money to keep clean and healthy. Butter gets squishy at room temperature, which makes shipping a pain. But corn oil can be produced cheaply, and once hydrogenated won't go squishy even at room temperature. When I was younger, my parents kept a can of Crisco in the cabinet above the stove.
The food industry has sold us on Crisco and margarine, claiming that they're healthier for us than all that calorie-laden butter. Unfortunately, it turns out that all that hydrogenation creates trans-fats, and trans-fats'll kill you. Oopsies.
The other day, I was preparing a 'Welcome back' dinner for my mother's boyfriend. I was mixing the mashed potatoes when she commented to him that my husband and I are so thin, we "can afford to eat real butter."
Considering that butter has fewer calories than margarine, maybe we're thin because of what we eat, not despite it? Note that my mother is overweight, depressed, constantly sick, in horrible shape, and has cancer. Her response? Dieting. Which makes her gain more weight. Nevertheless, my mother (who does not even know what tran-fats are, much less that they cause cancer) sees fit to inform me that my diet is going to give me high cholesterol and ruin my health.
When I challenge my mum on the source of her nutrition information, she replies with a dismissive, "everyone knows that," or "just Google it, you'll find tons of articles." Yeah, somehow I've managed to read 10 books on food and not encountered this from a single credible source, but it must be true because, "everyone knows it." Turns out my mother gets her information about butter from margarine ads. She is truly the perfect consumer.
Unfortunately, my mother is not alone in her delusion that if she eats margarine, fat-free ice cream, and Diet Coke, she'll lose weight. I just pick on her because I am well-aquainted with her eating habits and health problems. My mother suffers from seriously disordered eating.
The food industry has convinced us to throw out real food and replace it with fake food, convenience food, fast food, diet food, low-food food. While I have nothing against speed and convenience, the result is often devitalized, de-fooded food. Diet food is nothing more than food with the food taken out. It may fool your brain, but it won't fool your body, which will keep craving more food and more calories until it gets the nutrients and calories it needs. When you feed your body food with the food taken out, it takes a lot more food to get your nutrients.
For the record, vitamins + water are not all you need. You actually need fats. You need proteins. You need sugars (though I question the need for refined sugars.) You need a variety of foods and you need most of all to enjoy your food. Food is your ally. Food is delicious. Food is fun. If eating is a chore or a bore or filled with stress, you're doing it wrong.
Not long ago, I was a victim of disordered eating. No, not eating disorders, thankfully. I've had the good luck to never have any weight to lose, except after pregnancy, and that weight melts off on its own. Still, I suffered from the American affliction of disordered eating. I did not enjoy food. There were so many foods I disliked or wouldn't eat for one reason or another that eating out anywhere was a pain in the ass. Eating at a friend or relative's house was a nightmare of trying to find something I could eat without offending them. And just maintaining my weight was increasingly difficult.
I realized that things had to change. First Klarfax introduced me to good food and the notion that I should actually enjoy eating. Enjoy eating? Eat for some purpose other than putting enough calories into my system to keep it running? Yes, by all means, yes. We eat every day (at least we ought to). It is such a constant activity that if you don't enjoy it, you'll be suffering. And besides, food tastes good. You're supposed to enjoy it.
Second, I realized that my eating habits were not healthy. Losing weight is not healthy, especially not when you don't have any to lose. Everyone jumps all over fat people for their "unhealthy lifestyle", but no one gave a shit that I was unhealthy, because hey, if you're thin, that must mean you're healthy. I had to gain weight, and that meant overcoming most of my significant food aversions. I had to eat meat, chocolate, bread, milk, eggs, hell, I even had to pay for food and wash my damn dishes.
Then I encountered Glassner's book, The Gospel of Food: Everything You Think You Know About Food Is Wrong. Glassner talks about the dangers and failures of the "philosophy of naught", of choosing foods based on what they don't contain rather than what they do contain. The philosophy of naught sets food up to be your enemy. Food should never, ever be your enemy.
While I don't necessarily agree with everything Glassner said, his basic principle is sound. Food is your friend. Enjoy your food. I took advantage of my increased appetite during pregnancy to overcome some of my food aversions and become accustomed to some new foods, like milk and tomatoes. And my life has benefited greatly as a result. I still can't stand the taste of raw tomatoes, but I do derive great pleasure from all forms of milk.
Before we can begin to eat well, we must first abandon disordered eating. We must realize that food is our friend, our ally, and not our enemy.
Previous entries in this series:
Stop Dieting
Definitions and References
Food is Your Friend |
|
Tis but a simple blurb but I will admit even though I own the book in question, I never thought particularly about OSC's contribution.
There's a review at Amazon that sums up the book accurately:
( Read more... ) |
|
But since I don't remember what I was going to say, I'll say that
( Read more... ) |
|
Such a deal. Thanks to everyone who's purchased so far.
I'm working on music today, in between minor chores. Call this one an open thread. |
|
A while ago I noticed that Boulder's gym was regularly mailing out two-for-one coupons. Lately I've just been shoving all my junk mail in the recycling, but I would like to go climbing with some friends soon. Are those coupons still in circulation? Maybe I can get a couple of them this week. Or, if anyone has some saved up and wants to mail them to me, that would be awesome too. :)
Gracias! |
|
Ansible reports that Robert Holdstock has died at age 61. |
|
Coppelius is a German band which plays metal on drums, double bass, cello and clarinet. Their name is taken from E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Der Sandmann. Their logo is a top hat and they wear formal, old-fashioned clothes onstage.
Enjoy Coppelius performing I Get Used To It (Volle Länge)
Hope you enjoyed this, as they'll be making an appearance during covers month.Current Mood:  banging in a top hat! Current Music: Coppelius - I Get Used To It (Volle Länge) |
|
Poll #1491906
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 74Should the government try to deflect interest in that whole torture thing by having Canada Customs detain more journalists at the border?
[LJ assigns times to these at random, right?] |
|
The Great Hedge of India
The Great Hedge of India or Inland Customs Line was a customs barrier across India from the 1840s to the 1880s built by the British rulers to facilitate collecting the heavy salt tax. It was also used to control the profitable opium trade,[1][2] which the East India Company had acquired from the Mughal Empire by conquest.[3] The barrier consisted of fences, stone walls, and above all a nearly impenetrable barrier of trees, thorny bushes, and hedges, with periodic guard stations.
An impressive aspect of the Hedge is how completely it was forgotten. You'd think a 2000 mile long wall would leave some mark in folklore, if nothing else.
Maps & Photograph
A brief discussion of implications of the salt tax. |
|
My Loyal Lieutenant (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) slrose) had informed me that Baker and Taylor listed Threshold, but the true sign of its impending release has just now made itself visible: it's listed, albeit without its lovely cover image, on Amazon.com! |
|
Fascinating, fun blog at the NY Times. Check out the latest installment, "Back to the Land".
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
1 (1.4%)