Underweight worse then being overweight?

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Huseng
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Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Huseng »

There was an interesting new study done suggesting being underweight is more dangerous to one's health than being overweight:
  • Adults who are underweight — with a BMI of less than 18.5 — have a 1.8 times higher risk of dying than those with a “normal” BMI of 18.5 to 24.9, the study found.

    By comparison, people classed as obese (a BMI of 30 to 34.9) were 1.2 times more likely to die during a minimum five years of follow-up than normal weight people. The risk of dying was 1.3 times higher for the severely obese — those with a BMI of 35 or more.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/S ... story.html

I wonder if the recent craze to be as skinny as possible in many countries (particularly East Asia) will result in lower life expectancies for certain demographics.
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Kaccāni
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Kaccāni »

At least of dying from a lack of food. ;-)
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Lhug-Pa
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Lhug-Pa »

Depends on the factors involved.

If one is overweight due to consuming things like high-fructose corn syrup, msg, white flour, hydrogenated oils, or has metabolism problems partially due to big-pharma drugs and exposure to endocrine-disruptors & other synthetic-chemicals found in hand-soaps, cleaning products, & even foods...

...then I'm sure that that's^ a lot worse than being a little overweight from eating unprocessed foods such as additive-free organic carbohydrates, vegetable fats, or even organic dairy/meat (by the way, good fats (coconut oil, avocado, olive-oil, grass-fed ghee, etc.) actually help to regulate one's weight).

In the former case, one would be better off being underweight.

In the latter case, being a little overweight would be better than being underweight.



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Nemo
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Nemo »

Lhug-Pa wrote:Depends on the factors involved.

If one is overweight due to consuming things like high-fructose corn syrup, msg, white flour, hydrogenated oils, or has metabolism problems partially due to big-pharma drugs and exposure to endocrine-disruptors & other synthetic-chemicals found in hand-soaps, cleaning products, & even foods...

In the former case, one would be better off being underweight.
Actually it would be the opposite and preliminary studies support this. The fat is a defence mechanism to prevent spiking blood sugar from literally corroding your organ systems. Storage is the best way for the body to defend itself under those conditions and those unable to do that fare worse than those who can.

A Big Gulp is the equivalent of digesting 8 feet worth of sugar cane. Our pancreas is not designed to handle carbs so quickly. Pure MSG is not dangerous, it is over 3000 years old(seaweed extract), glutamate is the most abundant amino acid in your body and it is used by your body to synthesize glutathione the most powerful antioxidant in your body. Hydrogenated oils are poisons no argument. Big-pharma is a meaningless statement as is synthetic chemicals. Perhaps you mean processed foods in general.
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Lhug-Pa
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Lhug-Pa »

Hi Nemo,

I meant that being underweight and not eating processed foods (I'll settle for meaning process foods in general for now in support of my arguement) would be better than being overweight and eating processed foods.

And as I said it makes sense to me that being a little overweight while eating unprocessed foods would be better than being underweight in general.
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by KathyLauren »

On the other hand, numerous studies have shown an increase in longevity on a restricted-calorie diet.

It might come down to reading the fine print in the specific studies, something that you can't do in the popular media.

Om mani padme hum
Keith
Huseng
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Huseng »

Some old traditional Chinese medicine diagrams come to mind. Note the flabby figure:



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Huseng
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Huseng »

KeithBC wrote:On the other hand, numerous studies have shown an increase in longevity on a restricted-calorie diet.

It might come down to reading the fine print in the specific studies, something that you can't do in the popular media.

Om mani padme hum
Keith
There are so many conflicting opinions. I think too many researchers make a living from coming up with new facts about diet and health. It is a way to advance your career and probably secure funding as anything to do with diet and health will prove popular.
ovi
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by ovi »

Some info
This large study found optimum body mass indexes to be between 23.5 and 24.9 for men and 22.0 and 23.4 for women. As body mass index increased, risk of death increased. Men and women, with body mass indexes of 40.0 or higher, increased the risk of death by 250% and 200% respectively. In contrast, underweight men and women, with body mass indexes of 18.5 or lower, increased the risk by 26% and 36% respectively.
This large study quantifies the association between body mass index and risk of death. This is valuable information for health promotion. Being underweight does not carry the same risk of death as being overweight. Increased deaths among the underweight were largely explained by smoking and disease. The increased risk found at all ages suggests that the optimum weights for men and women should remain the same throughout life (rather than a higher weight with increasing age).
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Grigoris
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Grigoris »

Lhug-Pa wrote:(by the way, good fats (coconut oil, avocado, olive-oil, grass-fed ghee, etc.) actually help to regulate one's weight).
I read a study which said that coconut oil is really crap for you. I also read another study saying that the body needs some bad fats as they actually reduce the incidence of stomach, intestinal and bowel cancer.

Obviously one should avoid highly processed foods, high in all sorts of chemical additives, salt and sugar, but apart from that the terrain is pretty blurred.
Last edited by Grigoris on Wed Apr 02, 2014 10:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Vajraprajnakhadga
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Vajraprajnakhadga »

Lhug-Pa wrote: ...then I'm sure that that's^ a lot worse than being a little overweight from eating unprocessed foods such as additive-free organic carbohydrates, vegetable fats, or even organic dairy/meat (by the way, good fats (coconut oil, avocado, olive-oil, grass-fed ghee, etc.) actually help to regulate one's weight).
No one gets overweight on a diet like that unless they have metabolic issues, so I think it's safe to assume most of the overweight people in the study were on the American junkfood diet.
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by LastLegend »

Nothing beats physical activities and exercise. Doctors will be out of job if everyone does physical activities and exercise. The reason why there are so many medical conditions or symptoms is because somewhere in the body perhaps an organ is not doing well. So then we must target the root cause not the symptoms. Before becoming sick, people were healthy. Why were they healthy? Because their bodies were strong and healthy. Then why did they get sick? Because of the food and drinks that they take-usually execessive which weakens the body by jamming it. It does not have enough horsepowers or strength to rid of the excessive crap, viruses, and microscopes. To increase horsepowers, exercise and do physical activities. No, I don't sympathize with genetic explanation. However, I recognize certain diseases and illnesses come with birth.

I will point out to one flaw: drinking a lot of water is good. No, it is bad for your kidneys because the more water you drink, the more work your kidneys have to do. Why? Because in addition to filtering 5 litters of blood 200 times per day, the kidneys have process water also. So, 5*200=1000 liters of blood +water. When your kidneys are weak, they don't send good blood supply to your penis. So now you have erectile problems or weak libido. :lol:
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Malcolm
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Malcolm »

Indrajala wrote:There was an interesting new study done suggesting being underweight is more dangerous to one's health than being overweight...
In general, in Ayurveda and Tibetan Medicine consider that is best to be "slim". But slim does not mean underweight. It just means not carrying around too much extra weight.
Malcolm
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Malcolm »

Indrajala wrote:
KeithBC wrote:On the other hand, numerous studies have shown an increase in longevity on a restricted-calorie diet.

It might come down to reading the fine print in the specific studies, something that you can't do in the popular media.

Om mani padme hum
Keith
There are so many conflicting opinions. I think too many researchers make a living from coming up with new facts about diet and health. It is a way to advance your career and probably secure funding as anything to do with diet and health will prove popular.
If you simply rely on the wisdom of the ṛṣīs, you will be fine.
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dzogchungpa
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by dzogchungpa »

Malcolm wrote:If you simply rely on the wisdom of the ṛṣīs, you will be fine.
May I ask what the ṛṣīs say?
There is not only nothingness because there is always, and always can manifest. - Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
Malcolm
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Malcolm »

dzogchungpa wrote:
Malcolm wrote:If you simply rely on the wisdom of the ṛṣīs, you will be fine.
May I ask what the ṛṣīs say?

Read either the four tantras or ayurvedic texts such as the Carakasamhita, etc.
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dzogchungpa
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by dzogchungpa »

Malcolm wrote:
dzogchungpa wrote:
Malcolm wrote:If you simply rely on the wisdom of the ṛṣīs, you will be fine.
May I ask what the ṛṣīs say?
Read either the four tantras or ayurvedic texts such as the Carakasamhita, etc.
Can't you give us the "for dummies" version?

:smile:
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Adi
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Adi »

Malcolm wrote:In general, in Ayurveda and Tibetan Medicine consider that is best to be "slim". But slim does not mean underweight. It just means not carrying around too much extra weight.
And in general, if I'm not mistaken, both medicines don't take a universal approach to there being only one kind of person and One True Diet or One Best Food for everyone. Like coconut oil, it might be suggested for some in generous quantity, just a little for others, and strongly suggested not at all for some others. Or sunflower oil for one person, coconut oil for another, and for a third only small amounts of ghee depending on that person's constitution and their present situation.

Adi
Malcolm
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Malcolm »

Adi wrote:
Malcolm wrote:In general, in Ayurveda and Tibetan Medicine consider that is best to be "slim". But slim does not mean underweight. It just means not carrying around too much extra weight.
And in general, if I'm not mistaken, both medicines don't take a universal approach to there being only one kind of person and One True Diet or One Best Food for everyone. Like coconut oil, it might be suggested for some in generous quantity, just a little for others, and strongly suggested not at all for some others. Or sunflower oil for one person, coconut oil for another, and for a third only small amounts of ghee depending on that person's constitution and their present situation.

Adi

Correct.
Sherlock
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Re: Underweight worse then being overweight?

Post by Sherlock »

That study does not account for body composition.

It is quite likely that underweight people lack lean body mass (LBM) and hence muscle. Older folks with less LBM will be more likely to fall and be unable to get up or suffer other injuries. Folks with more LBM will have a higher BMI score (which doesn't distinguish between fat and muscle).
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