Belly fat doubles your chance of premature death regardless if you are overweight or not!
This is pretty scary.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/13/health/webmd/main4598334.shtml?source= RSSattr=HOME_4598334

Great...this is such an inspirational article to read for us radio geeks...

This was quite the study! They followed 359,387 people around for 10 years, and during that time, 14,723 died! The observation that belly fat "produces more inflammation" that can lead to heart disease was interesting. One thing that should be kept in mind is that there is no way to target weight loss efforts to a single part of the body. All that one can do is to eat less, be more active, and watch the weight go down.

Why is this a shock? You carry more weight you put more stress on your body. It's pretty simple.

Each body is different and some body types can handle extra body fat better than others. Be proactive about your health. Get educated and be smart.

Here's the mini-soap box version to what I believe is a 3 step way to a healthy lifestyle. Be prepared because this may surprise you beyond belief.

1. P.M.A. (Positive Mental Attitude)....without this the other 2 steps won't work.

2. Diet

3. Exercise

I know I know...What a revelation.

Why is this a shock?

This is shock because you chance of premature death doubles regardless if you are overweight or not.
I know plenty of guys who are NOT overweight but do have a beer belly on them. You can have a beer belly and NOT be overweight.
My father, who is very skinny and not overweight still has a beer belly!

Justin I guess we define beer belly differently.

I see it as an overweight issue. Not in an obese way, but still you're dealing with too much weight. Having a beer belly is being overweight.

They found that people with the most belly fat had about double the risk of dying prematurely of the people with the least amount of belly fat. Death risk increased with waist circumference, whether the participants were overweight or not.


"Whether the participants were overweight or not".

To me, that means that you can still have a beer belly and not be overweight! My Buddy in college was Rail thin, yet he had a beer belly when he came back from College. He was not overweight but did have the beer belly!
That is whats so shocking to me about the article. You can be of normal weight, have a beer belly, and still double the risk of death because you have the beer belly.

This, coupled with the newly released study showing that statin drugs dramatically reduce the risk of death in those having the "inflamation that leads to heart disease" -- even in those who don't actually have high cholestorol, should put statins on everybody's list to discuss seriously with their doctor. Statins have been proven one of the safest classes of drugs around.

Yes danner, but what are the side effects?? E.d, extreme tiredness. If I get high cholestorol than yes I should be on the meds, BUT I don't want to be on the statins unless my cholestotol is high!

Tdanner I will take issue with your stance on statin drugs. They have proven to be helpful but there are risks with constant usage.

I have been seeing one of the top Naturopathic doctors for the past couple of years who specializes in the cardio vascular system. He is actually world renowned for his work. There are supplements on the market that naturally bring down cholestorol or break up blood clots and many others that work wonders that blow statin drugs away.

However our western medical mentality is to go with statin drugs first while it's just the opposite in naturopathic circles.

Take the statin drug Coumadin. Been around for over 50 years. Lots of people on it. It's rat poison! Over a long period of usage it could damage the very veins it's trying to protect. Plus if you have blood clots it doesn't dissolve the clot it just makes it so the clot doesn't get worse. However there is a supplement that dissolves blood clots. So what would you choose?

Statin drugs have their purpose but the less of them you take is actually better for your system.

I would choose

1) a drug that has been subjected to scrupulous scientific testing and had been approved for the purpose by the FDA.

2) which was prescribed by an M.D.

I personally would not visit or pay more than passing attention to naturopathic doctors nor the treatments they recommend. I prefer proven science to holistic faith and feelings.

Here's the link to the recently released data on the large scale statin study conducted by Boston's famed Brigham and Women's Hospital. They stopped the trial early (after 2 years) because of the overwhelming evidence that statins were dramatically reducing death among those who had arterial inflamation EVEN without its co-host high cholesterol!

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-statin10-2008nov10,0,802569.story

Since my MD told me last year that despite normal cholesterol levels I had very high inflamation levels, I've just made an appointment to discuss the new research with her.

Merck, Pfizer et.al aren't stupid! If there were natural suppliments that could actually be PROVEN safe and efffective in clinical trials they'd be all over 'em like germs on a bathroom door.

I understand that for each of us its "your body-your choice." I choose science.

Terry- Unfortunately you are subscribing to the typical western medicine philosophy. What did we have before western medicine? 5000 years of natural, plant based medicinal solutions.

I will agree that western medicine has been beneficial in many areas but it is certainly not the end all. I don't need 50 years of studies if something is working for me and many others. It's brainwashing as far as I'm concerned.

Do you want to be cured or just live with a medical problem? Naturopathic doctors aren't some kind of whackos. The one I see has a strong medical background but choose Naturopathic medicine because in many cases it cures and is a better form of personal maintenance.

My N.D. is constantly educating medical doctors. The man is simply brilliant and I would put him up against any of the doctors in your care. ND's use science too as well as human studies but come up with vastly different solutions.

Plus in many cases doctor's are in bed with the pharmaceutical industry that just keeps us sick enough so they can stay in business. What a crap shoot.

But it gets down to personal choice and what's working for you. I guess we agree on that.