When Fat Matters… and When it Doesn’t

People obsess over their body size. Whether they are worried about their weight because of how they look or because of how it affects their health, people everywhere are concerned about weight loss.

When it comes to fat though, some fat matters more than others. Many people—maybe you—rely on the body mass index to determine if they are at a healthy weight. But the body mass index isn’t reliable for everyone. If you have a low percentage of body fat, even if your body mass measurement is high, you are healthier than someone with high body fat and a “healthy” BMI.

Researchers have found that some of the most dangerous fat in your body is the fat that collects around your organs. Especially your heart.

Researchers from Wake Forest University found that people with the highest amount of fat around their hearts were more than four times as likely to show signs of heart disease, including hardening arteries.

So how to you get rid of fat deposits around your organs?

Well, diet isn’t enough. You have to exercise. To reduce fat, high intensity exercise is best. The easiest way to do a high intensity workout is to do an interval workout. Warm up for five minutes or so. Just a walk around the block will do. Then exert yourself hard for a minute or two. Jumping jacks, jumping rope, or sprinting are all easy, free ways to get your heart rate up. After working hard for a minute or two, go for another walk around the block—a little more briskly than your warm up. Repeat the exertion period followed by a walk two or three more times, and then cool down for two or three minutes. That’s it. Your done. In all, this kind of workout only takes fifteen or twenty minutes, but it can make a huge difference in the health or your heart… and your other organs, too.

Stay well,
Meghan Krohn