Well, the highest leading cause for heart disease? Not being overweight - exactly.
It's diabetes.
And what can REALLY lead to diabetes, that can be affected the most by a change in lifestyle? Being overweight.
Being overweight can - note not always, CAN - lead to hypertension (another big vascular killer - I'd rather die of a heart attack than survive a stroke) as well. The numbers follow each other like carts follow horses.
But there's nothing like being diabetic to really fuck things up. It ups the risk exponentially - and since it's proven that in some cases of Type II, you can get rid of it by getting the weight down? It's worth pushing in every case. Every last one of them.
It also doesn't help that most of the studies out of restricted calorie diets support longevity more than just about ANYTHING else. (And of course, there are big $$ research bucks being spend on trying to mimic the effect on the genes artificially, without restricting caloric intake...*facesmacks*)
Study this, study that. So many of the 'studies' are printed to sell soap and never report the important parts - which to me are - are they double-blind (nope), of a reasonable size and breadth (no idea) and over a long period of time? (UH.)
I go back to that really great class I got in 1979. Yup, that long ago.
15 lbs over is too much. And back then, 5'6" was 120-145. It is now, no real change. (15 lbs under? Too little.)
At 183, I was hypertensive, my lipid profile was WHACK and there were other complaints.
At 150, they dissapeared. At 133 (which I *think* is where we put me at goal), I might as well have been 18 again.
People have a lot of company these days - you really can't point at anyone in the room who meets criteria like this all that often - but it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
(I wonder if I still have that textbook somewhere....)
no subject
It's diabetes.
And what can REALLY lead to diabetes, that can be affected the most by a change in lifestyle? Being overweight.
Being overweight can - note not always, CAN - lead to hypertension (another big vascular killer - I'd rather die of a heart attack than survive a stroke) as well. The numbers follow each other like carts follow horses.
But there's nothing like being diabetic to really fuck things up. It ups the risk exponentially - and since it's proven that in some cases of Type II, you can get rid of it by getting the weight down? It's worth pushing in every case. Every last one of them.
It also doesn't help that most of the studies out of restricted calorie diets support longevity more than just about ANYTHING else. (And of course, there are big $$ research bucks being spend on trying to mimic the effect on the genes artificially, without restricting caloric intake...*facesmacks*)
Study this, study that. So many of the 'studies' are printed to sell soap and never report the important parts - which to me are - are they double-blind (nope), of a reasonable size and breadth (no idea) and over a long period of time? (UH.)
I go back to that really great class I got in 1979. Yup, that long ago.
15 lbs over is too much. And back then, 5'6" was 120-145. It is now, no real change. (15 lbs under? Too little.)
At 183, I was hypertensive, my lipid profile was WHACK and there were other complaints.
At 150, they dissapeared. At 133 (which I *think* is where we put me at goal), I might as well have been 18 again.
People have a lot of company these days - you really can't point at anyone in the room who meets criteria like this all that often - but it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
(I wonder if I still have that textbook somewhere....)