More important to be in shape than thin

By Dr. Ben Lerner on mercola.com: A number of studies have shown that movement is more important than weight loss. In today’s day and age, I know that sounds like complete heresy, but it’s true. With Atkins, Dr. Phil, the South Beach diet and weight loss programs in general becoming a cornerstone of our society and one of our top grossing products, weight loss has become a national past time and foundational health belief.

Be Good to Your Heart—Get Into Shape

Yet, extensive research is now showing that how much you weigh is not nearly as important as what kind of shape you are in. This is why heart disease and cancer wards have thin people too. It has been discovered that losing weight without getting in shape only means you will die lighter.

A recent study of 906 women published in the Journal of American Medicine (JAMA) showed that when it comes to heart health, it’s more important to be fit than to be thin. The research done showed that those who were the most fit were least likely to have clogged arteries, had the fewest heart attacks, and far fewer risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The same correlations did not hold true based on measurements of body fat (BMI or body mass index).

An additional commentary published in the same edition of JAMA said, “While the evidence linking obesity to health problems is indisputable, the role of fitness is equally clear.”

What’s important for all of us to begin realizing is that research is consistently showing that a moderately fit, but obese person is about half as likely to die of heart disease than an unfit person of normal weight. Of course, to be overweight and unfit is also completely deadly.