Are You ‘skinny Fat’?
The common wisdom is that if you’re overweight you're unhealthy, and if you’re thin, you're healthy. New research says otherwise. On the outside, you’re an average Joe with a normal build and a pant size that’s readily available. But on the inside – it’s a different story. The term "skinny fat” is a phrase used to describe people who look fit and healthy on the surface yet, due to a lack of exercise or poor diet, have a slew of health problems brewing beneath it. One study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found nearly one in four skinny people have pre-diabetes and are “metabolically obese.” In other words, are skinny fat. Here’s the thing: diabetes is the fastest-growing chronic health problem plaguing Aussies, yet many of us wouldn’t know how to spot if we were at risk of the deadly disease. One Australian is diagnosed with diabetes every five minutes. Of those, 85-95 per cent will be diagnosed with type 2, a condition that’s both deadly and preventable. Sof Andrikopoulos, CEO of the Australian Diabetes Society, describes type 1 and type 2 diabetes as diseases of the pancreas, in which the pancreas is unable to secrete enough insulin to regulate the glucose levels in our blood. “With type 1, the immune system actually kills the cells that produce insulin so there’s a complete deficiency. With type 2, the insulin-producing cells don’t work efficiently so there’s a relative deficiency.” Type 2 used to typically affect men and women who were over 55. That’s all changed now, Andrikopoulos says: “When I started in diabetes research 25 years ago, you had to be over 55 to get type 2 but now we’re seeing it in young adults, adolescents and even in children under 10. It all comes down to our lifestyle – the Continue reading >>
8 Strategies To Reverse Skinny-fat Syndrome
“If I’m not overweight, do I need to become concerned about obesity and other health issues?” asks this week’s House Call. “Even though I drink soda and eat whatever I want, I don’t gain weight. Should I be worried?” The short answer is yes, and here’s why. One study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found nearly one in four skinny people have pre-diabetes and are “metabolically obese.” In other words, about 25 percent of the population fit the skinny fat syndrome, also known as thin on the outside, fat on the inside (TOFI). Skinny fat means just what it sounds like: You look thin but inside you’re fat. You’ve got organ fat (the more dangerous type of fat) coating your liver, kidneys, and other organs. You are under-lean but over-fat, meaning not enough muscle and too much fat (especially belly fat). Most people assume if you’re overweight, you’re unhealthy; if you are thin, you are healthy. Unfortunately, the reality isn’t so simple. Yes, America has a big fat problem: almost 70 percent are overweight and many have diabesity, a condition I define as anywhere on the continuum between pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Even though it might sound crazy, being skinny fat might become more dangerous than being overweight. Let’s say you go to your annual doctor visit and you are overweight or obese. He or she will probably run blood tests, become concerned about type 2 diabetes, and ask you to lose some weight. If you arrive thin, your doctor might not conduct those blood tests or otherwise acknowledge underlying issues. He or she might assume things are normal rather than checking under the hood for pre-diabetes and other problems that pave the way for detrimental repercussions. That’s unfortunate, since if you are Continue reading >>
When Being 'skinny Fat' Is More Dangerous Than Being Obese | Time
Not all body fat is created equal, new research published Monday suggests. A new study , published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, reports that normal-weight people who have fat around their middle have a greater mortality risk than people who are overweight or obese with regular fat distributions. To reach these findings, the researchers looked at survey results for 15,184 adults between ages 18 and 90. The people in the study had about 14 years of follow-up data, which the researchers used to look at how risk for heart-related morality and total risk of death were linked to the distribution of fat. They found that people with normal weight central obesityhaving a normal body mass index (BMI) but a high hip-to-waist ratiohad a higher risk of death than those who had a high BMI but a more even fat distribution. Though the study wasnt designed to determine the reasons why, the authors speculate on one possible culprit: visceral fat, or the fat stored around the belly. Visceral fat is thought to be more metabolically dangerous than the more typical subcutaneous fat, and it can increase insulin resistance and inflammation. It could be that people with more visceral fat are at a higher risk for heart-related issues and other health problems that can contribute to mortality risk. Persons who are overweight or obese based on BMI may have larger amounts of subcutaneous fat in the hips and legsfat linked to healthier metabolic profiles, the study authors write. This may explain the unexpected better survival in over-weight or obese persons, even among those who were centrally obese. The surprising findings add to the debate over the obesity paradox, where people who are obese, in some cases, survive longer with health issues compared to people of lower weights. Oth Continue reading >>
Could You Be A Skinny-fat Person?
Do you think that just because your weight is normal that you're healthy? I hope you are; but your weight doesnotnecessarilyequal your health status.Could YOU be skinny-fat? Someone who is relatively thin may be "metabolically obese, normal weight" (MONW), which is the medical term for being skinny-fat. It is also known as "Metabolic Obesity." This is very prevalent in America today, especially among women. It's also common in men and children, unfortunately. People who are skinny-fat may look "normal" and healthy and have a normal weight, but are at much greater risk for serious medical conditions.Metabolically obese individuals have all the same risks of disease and death as the obese population. Even if your weight or BMI is normal, you have a high percentage of body fat (not enough muscleandtoo much fat). In this case, a high percentage of body fat is found in people with little muscle tone, who are rather doughy, even if skinny. This person has a low or normal body mass, but a high fat mass. This excessproportionof fat is especiallyprevalentaround the middle,whichoften causes a pot-belly or muffin-top.This isthe dangerous visceral fat surrounding the internal organs. The area where fat builds up is important. The visceral fat (belly fat) that surrounds the organs in the abdominal cavity is associated with metabolic and health problems, while the subcutaneous fat under the skin is mostly a cosmetic problem (see study highlighting the difference) .(The fat just under the skin and the number on the scale may not be not as much of a health concern in comparison.)Therefore, reducing belly fat should be a priority for health improvement. The main culprit here is the hormone insulin, which is the fat storage hormone.This is caused by a diet full of sugars, high-fructose Continue reading >>
How To Tell If You're Skinny Fat (and What To Do If You Are)
How to Tell If You're Skinny Fat (and what to do if you are) The term skinny fat has been around for a while now, but it seems to have exploded into our common consciousness following the March 2014 feature in TIME Magazine . In it, an outwardly skinny and supposedly healthy physique was shown as having a potentially dangerous side. Theyre right. Just being skinny doesn't always mean you're healthy. If youre a little unclear on what exactly skinny fat means, it refers to someone who has a weight and BMI that are normal for that persons height, but has much more fat than and not enough muscle recommended for optimal health. On the outside you look skinny, but internally, your body composition is unbalanced. Skinny fat people are not healthy. Many people just assume that if their weight and/or BMI is normal, they have nothing to worry about. This has a lot to do with misconceptions about BMI's usefulness in assessing weight and health. For example, according to the World Health Organization (WHO ), if your BMI is between 18.5 and 24.99, you are considered to be in the normal range for sufficient health. So if you have a BMI of 22, youre automatically in the clear, right? Not so fast - although the WHO has set these ranges, they are quick to qualify them with the following: The BMI provides the most useful population-level measure of overweight and obesity, as it is the same for both sexes and for all ages of adults. However, it should be considered as a rough guide because it may not correspond to the same body fat percentage in different individuals. The fixation on weight, thinness, and BMI is where so many people get fooled into living unhealthy lifestyles. In todays society, people prize thinness as the ideal, so as long as theyweigh a certain number and appear a cer Continue reading >>
Belly Fat And Insulin Resistance
I have read that losing belly fat (even if you don't seem "fat" but the fat is around your organs) can reverse insulin resistance, but then I know people on here who are skinny as can be and still are severely T2. You all probably know right now that I am almost 100% sure my beta blocker has caused me to gain weight in my belly (plus, admittedly, eating junk and not exercising) and has caused previously healthy bgl's to go up to borderline unhealthy. If I were to exercise hard enough to lose the belly fat and butt (which would be REALLY hard for me, as I have never tolerated exercise very well, not even as a skinny teenager when I was playing volleyball at school), could I possibly reverse the insulin resistance, even if I ended up staying on the beta blocker? Undiagnosed as of yet, pending genetic testing Postprandials range from 120-235 depending on the meal. D.D. Family Getting much harder to control Well its one of those new ideas but at 85 lbs my aunt was type 2 and very much was very active. I know some put a lot into this but me I think they can go overboard on this stuff. I don't think anyone can give you a for sure answer to that question. If I were you and so determined to lose the belly fat and butt, I would begin with my diet and exercise. Why is it you don't tolerate exercise very well? I'd get rid of the junk food if you are still eating it and concentrate on eating lots of fresh vegetables and protein foods. The thing is even if you lose the belly fat and lessen the IR, this will be a life long commitment, so you need to make your diet livable, meaning something long term. Only you know if you are able to do this. I have read that losing belly fat (even if you don't seem "fat" but the fat is around your organs) can reverse insulin resistance, but then I Continue reading >>
Skinny Fat | Prevent
15 percent of people with prediabetes are thin. Why they might face the biggest risks of all. Type 2 diabetes and obesity are so often discussed in the same breath, its easy to forget that a normal BMI (18.5 to 24.9) wont stop you from getting the disease. Thats why it was such a surprise when Tom Hanks recently announced that he has type 2 diabetes ; after all, in general (movie roles notwithstanding) Tom is a relatively trim guy. Yet according to the National Institutes of Health, about 15% of type 2 diabetics dont qualify as overweight. But being thin is still better than being obese, right? In most cases, yes. But when it comes to surviving diabetes, things get a bit more complicated. A study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association pooled data on more than 2,500 diabetes patients who were tracked for an average of 18 years while participating in five major medical studies. Analysis revealed that a greater number of patients who had a normal BMI at the time of diagnosis had died by the end of each study than patients who were overweight or obese when treatment began. Yes, you read that correctly; more thin people died than fat ones. The authors offered up a few theories that could explain the counter-intuitive results: Body Mass Index is based on height and weight; it doesnt take into account fat-to-muscle ratio. Muscle weighs more than fat, so it drives up BMI, but heavier individuals with good muscle tone have health advantages over lightweight and flabby (a.k.a. skinny-fat) people. For one, muscle tissue is less insulin resistant than fatty tissue, and research suggests that insulin resistance is the primary underlying factor in cardiovascular disease. That means the less muscle you have compared to fat, the higher the chances youll Continue reading >>
Skinny And 119 Pounds, But With The Health Hallmarks Of Obesity
Claire Walker Johnson of Queens was a medical mystery. No matter how much she ate, she never gained weight. And yet Ms. Johnson, with a long narrow face, had the conditions many obese people develop — Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and, most strikingly, a liver buried in fat. She and a very small group of very thin people like her have given scientists surprising clues to one of the most important questions about obesity: Why do fat people often develop serious and sometimes life-threatening medical conditions? The answer has little to do with the fat itself. It’s about each person’s ability to store it. With that understanding, scientists are now working on drug treatments to protect people from excess unstored fat and spare them from dire medical conditions. The need is clear. One in three Americans and one in four adults worldwide have at least three conditions associated with obesity such as diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure — a combination of disorders that doubles their risk of heart attacks and strokes. In addition, 2 percent to 3 percent of adults in America, or at least five million people, have a grave accumulation of fat in their livers caused by obesity that can lead to liver failure. The detective work that led to this new scientific understanding of fat began with a small group of scientists curious about a disorder that can be caused by a gene mutation so rare it is estimated to affect just one in 10 million people, including, it turned out, Ms. Johnson. For much of her life, Ms. Johnson, 55, had no idea anything was amiss. Yes, she was very thin and always ravenous, but in Jamaica, where she was born, many children were skinny, she says, and no one thought much of it. She seemed healthy, and she developed Continue reading >>
Why Thin People Can Become Diabetic—and It’s Not Insulin Resistance
There is a blatantly illogical explanation in medicine about Type 2 diabetes being caused by insulin resistance. On one hand, it is claimed that weight gain in the form of excess fat causes insulin resistance, and other hand, it is also claimed thin people, who by definition, do not seem to have to extra fat, can develop insulin resistance, too. In my view, this is contradictory and points to yet another reason that insulin resistance as the cause of Type 2 diabetes does not make sense. Let me give you four reasons why it makes no sense biologically that insulin resistance occurs in both obese people and thin (lean) people and causes Type 2 diabetes: 1. In obese people, the current medical teaching is that the accumulation of excess fat causes insulin resistance as well as impairs insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Meanwhile, to explain why thin people get diabetes, it is believed that these people suffer from a rare genetic “defect” characterized by a lack of fatty tissue. In other words, on one hand, excess fat causes insulin resistance while on the other hand insufficient fat can also cause it. 2. The amount of fat tissue a person has is actually a function of the number of fat cells and the capacity of each cell to store fat (also called triglyceride). The number of fat cells increases from childhood ending with about 50 billion in an average adult. Obese adults do not have more fat cells than they had before, but they have larger fat cells, up to 4 times the normal size, when filled to capacity with fat. When a person loses weight, the number of fat cells remain the same, but each cell loses fat. We know that obese people who lose weight can lower their blood sugar and even reverse diabetes. But this presents another paradox: Why don’t obese diabetics w Continue reading >>
The Dangers Of Being Skinny Fat (and What To Do About It)
From fashion models to fitness magazines, the message that “skinnier is better” has permeated our culture so much by now that the more crucial message of how to actually be healthy has gotten washed out. The result? Millions of people are what’s affectionately referred to as “skinny fat,” which happens when a person is a normal weight or perhaps even underweight but has a dangerously high percentage of body fat compared to lean muscle mass. Their unhealthy lifestyle puts them at risk for issues like cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, and more—the same problems that we tend to associate solely with obese people or those suffering from metabolic syndrome. The skinny fat epidemic is an important reminder that being thin does not necessarily make you healthy, and being a little larger does not necessarily make you unhealthy. Read on to learn how to identify if you’re skinny fat, the dangers of being skinny fat, and what do to about it. What Is “Skinny Fat?” We all have that friend—or maybe it’s you—who’s usually able to eat whatever they want without gaining too much weight. Because they don’t put on too much weight, they rarely exercise and consider cardio and strength training completely unnecessary. In turn, they end up staying thin on the outside but relatively weak, with a higher amount of body fat compared to lean muscle. They make look fine on the outside, but their high percentage of body fat is concerning. Skinny fat is a term used to describe this phenomenon. What’s more, as you get older you lose muscle more easily; in fact you can lose up to 5% of your muscle mass per decade after the age of 30 if you’re not actively replacing it. So when your muscle tissue starts to deteriorate but your body fat stays the same, you now hav Continue reading >>
Male Skinny Fat | Fabulous Body
Q) Hey Akash. I can see that you have helped hundreds of Skinny Fat guys build a good Lean physique. I am a male skinny fat. I have 24 percent body fat. Should I keep cutting until I hit 18-20 percent and then bulk? Or should I start bulking now? A) Hello. Thanks for your question. A Skinny-Fat person is A Skinny-Fat person is thin but has belly fat. Although I had some muscle in the before picture, more than 90% of my fat came on my belly and face. Being Skinny-Fat is worst than being Skinny. Not only you look weird, but your health takes a toll. You see Fat around your Belly is different than fat on other body parts: Subcutaneous fat: This is the fat we store underneath the skin. Visceral fat: This is fat that surrounds our organs; it is the deep fat that you cannot pinch. Belly fat has both types of fat, but more of latter. Health Problems associated with Visceral Fat This is the fat that surrounds the organs. Some amount of fat is required for the cushioning of the organs, but when this fat exceeds it creates issues. A common example is a Fatty Liver [See Above] Now, its common knowledge that anyone who is within the BMI range would be considered healthy and anyone who is overweight will have health issues. Its not necessary that if you are thin, you are healthy or vice versa. Todays heavy reliance on refined carbs, high corn fructose sugar, and other junk is creating a new type of diseases which Dr. Mark Hyman terms as MONW metabolically obese normal weight. It means you are normal weight but have fatless muscle, high fat i.e. Skinny Fat. This study in Journal of American Medical Association says that 1 in 4 skinny people have pre-diabetes and are metabolically obese. According to this study , the thin-fat phenotype and global metabolic disease risk is growing rap Continue reading >>
Can Normal Weight And Thin People Be Insulin Resistant?
Insulin resistance – if you’re of normal weight or underweight you’ve probably crossed it off your list of things to worry about. After all, insulin resistance only affects people who are overweight, right? Surprisingly, the answer is no. Insulin resistance is less common in people who aren’t overweight or obese but even thin people can have it. The Problem of Metabolically Unhealthy Non-Obesity You’ve probably heard about metabolically-healthy obese people, people who fall into the obese category based on BMI yet don’t suffer from the health problems associated with obesity like insulin resistance. In addition, they aren’t at greater risk for heart disease. Up to 20% of obese people fall into this category. Just as there are metabolically healthy obese people, there are a growing number of normal weight and thin people who aren’t healthy from a metabolic standpoint. They have the same metabolic issues, namely insulin resistance, that plaques overweight and obese people. These people fall into the category of “metabolically unhealthy non-obese.” Unfortunately, people in this category are at higher risk for health problems and most are blissfully unaware of it. They look at the number on the scale and assume all is well. After all, how can they be at risk when insulin resistance is so closely linked with being overweight and obese? Insulin Resistance in Normal-Weight and Thin People: What Causes It? As you already know insulin resistance is a condition where cells become less responsive to the insulin your pancreas produces. Your pancreas produces insulin to help get glucose into cells. When cells lose sensitivity to insulin, the pancreas has to pump out more. As a result, people who have insulin resistance have lots of circulating insulin in their bl Continue reading >>
Think Skinny People Don’t Get Type 2 Diabetes? Think Again.
In the last article we discussed the complex relationship between body weight and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). We learned that although obesity is strongly associated with T2DM, a subset of “metabolically healthy obese” (MHO) people have normal blood sugar and insulin sensitivity and don’t ever develop diabetes. In this article we’re going to talk about the mirror reflection of the MHO: the “metabolically unhealthy nonobese” (MUN). These are lean people with either full-fledged type 2 diabetes or some metabolic dysfunction, such as insulin resistance. You might even be surprised to learn that skinny people can and do get T2DM. They are rarely mentioned in the media, and there isn’t much written about them in the scientific literature. Perhaps these folks have been overlooked because type 2 diabetes has been historically viewed as a disease of gluttony and sloth, a self-inflicted outcome of eating too much and not and not exercising enough. But the very existence of the MUN phenotype proves that there’s more to T2DM than overeating and a sedentary lifestyle. Remember that one in three type 2 diabetics are undiagnosed. It’s possible that a significant number of these people that are lean. They don’t suspect they might have T2DM because they’re under the impression that it’s not a condition that affects thin people. This is one of the biggest dangers of the myth that “only fat people get diabetes”. It’s well-known that high blood sugar can precede the development of T2DM for as long as ten years. It is during this time that many of the complications associated with diabetes – nerve damage, retinal changes, and early signs of kidney deterioration – begin to develop. This is why it’s just as important for lean people to maintain healthy blood s Continue reading >>
Why 'skinny Fat' Can Be Worse Than Obesity
Tap here to turn on desktop notifications to get the news sent straight to you. 07/31/2015 11:08 am ETUpdatedJul 30, 2016 Why 'Skinny Fat' Can Be Worse Than Obesity We have a big fat problem. America is a fat nation, and we are failing to solve our big fat problem. Failing big time. Almost 70 percent of Americans are overweight. The latest study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows about 35 percent of Americans are obese . It comes as no surprise, then, that one in two Americans has what I call diabesity -- the spectrum of imbalance ranging from mild insulin resistance to pre-diabetes to full-blown Type 2 diabetes. The scariest part is that 90 percent of those suffering from this serious health condition don't even know it. Our diabesity epidemic aside, being overweight or obese can increase your risk for numerous problems including stroke, some cancers, heart disease, and depression. It can also seriously diminish quality of life. What many people don't realize is that we can suffer all these problems -- diabesity and all its detrimental health consequences -- even if we're normal weight or underweight. In fact, about one-quarter of the remaining 30 percent of those who don't fall into the overweight or obese categories are what I call "skinny fat," and the ramifications can be even more devastating than being overweight or obese. While the word "diabesity" is made up of the concepts of obesity and diabetes, even those who aren't overweight can have this problem. These are the "skinny fat" people. They are "underlean" (not enough muscle) instead of "overweight" and have a little extra weight around the middle, or "belly fat." Scientists have a word for this phenomenon: Thin on the outside, fat on the inside, or TOFI. Dr. Jimmy Bell coined th Continue reading >>
Beauty Is Only Skin Deep: Skinny Fat Explained
Beauty Is Only Skin Deep: Skinny Fat Explained Weve been hearing it since we were kids: Dont judge a book by its cover.Its true for books, and its even truer for our patients and clients. It can prove difficult to keep an open mind. Especially with people whose figure is evocative of overeating and sedentary lifestyle. The kind of people that classify as textbook case of metabolic syndrome even before seeing their blood work . However, like it so often does, the data can surprise us. Metabolically Healthy Obese and Skinny Fat There are overweight and obese people who have metabolic profiles we would consider healthy. (1) We often refer to them as the metabolically healthy obese. Even more common are people who are what is casually known as skinny-fat. These TOFI people, meaning thin outside fat inside, have a normal body weight. Yet they have a metabolic profile which we typically associate with obesity and metabolic syndrome. They are also known as the normal weight obese (2). Based on body mass index (BMI) alone, the normal weight obese may be classified as having a healthy body weight. However, when we take into account the more clinically relevant body composition. (3) Then we realize these people have unhealthy proportions of body fat compared to lean mass. They may also have comparatively more of their fat stored in metabolically damaging visceral deposits . This is as opposed to subcutaneous deposits. Visceral deposits include the liver, as is seen with increasing recognition of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (4) in people of normal weight. Protection against fat accumulation vs. health Thanks to genetics or maybe just plain luck, some people seem to be protected against excess body fat accumulation. These people remain lean and their outward appearances refl Continue reading >>
