How much should you weigh given your age and height?
Comedian Kevin Hart, 41, is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs 141 pounds. He doesn’t seem overweight. That’s because a healthy weight depends on age, muscle-fat ratio, height, sex and body fat distribution. Athletic and muscled folks may have a higher body mass index but not have excess body fat. Hart’s BMI registers as overweight (normal weight range for his height is 101 to 136 pounds), but his level of body fat is 15.8 percent (that’s good), indicating it’s likely he has a healthy distribution of muscle and fat.
How can you figure out the right weight for your optimal health? The best way is to use several measurements to see if they reinforce the other’s findings.
■ Figure your BMI at CDC.gov; search for “adult BMI calculator.” Or try the Smart BMI Calculator, which considers your gender and age along with weight and height at www.smartbmicalculator.com.
■ Determine your waist to hip ratio: Measure your waist at its narrowest part and divide that number by a measurement of your hips at their widest part. Below 0.9 = low risk of cardiovascular health problems; 0.9 to 0.99 = moderate risk; 1.0 or more = high risk. Moderate or high risk may indicate you’re overweight.
■ Calculate your waist to height ratio. Divide waist size by height in inches. Are you 0.5 or less? Chances are you’re a healthy weight.
■ Ask your doc for a body fat assessment using a pinch test. Fit non-athletes come in at 14 percent to 17 percent for guys and 21 percent to 24 percent for gals.
Diabetes, your dog and you
Between 2006 and 2016, the incidence of diabetes in dogs increased almost 80 percent! It’s now estimated that one in every 300 pooches will get the disease. Beagles, bichons frises, cairn terriers, dachshunds, fox terriers, keeshonds, poodles and pugs are the most often diagnosed.
As dismaying as that info is, it turns out that it also foreshadows humans’ risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. A Swedish study published in the BMJ followed more than 175,000 middle-aged dog owners for six years. The researchers found owning a dog that had or developed diabetes increased the risk that the owner would also be diagnosed with the condition by 38 percent!
So, if your best pal is diagnosed with diabetes, let it serve as a wake-up call to you. Clearly you both need more physical activity. For most breeds, walks lasting a total of 30 to 120 minutes a day will keep them healthy. Ask your vet for guidance. And take advantage of the dog-walking schedule to get your full 10,000 steps in (with a dog that doesn’t dawdle too badly you can get around 2,500-3,000 steps in 30 minutes). One study found people who walked a loaner dog five days a week lost more than 14 pounds over the course of a year.
Bonus tip: As you reduce your risk for diabetes one dog walk at a time, opt for diabetes-defeating nutrition with a plant-based diet and lean proteins (salmon, skinless chicken) and ditch ultra-processed foods, added sugars, and red and processed meats.
The link between stress and fertility
When Beyonce gave birth to Blue Ivy in January 2012, it followed a year’s timeout, during which she backed away from the intense stress of life on the road and in the public eye. Turns out that may have helped her conceive as well.
New research has confirmed what Harvard Medical School’s Alice Domar has been telling couples for decades — stress reduction techniques can greatly improve a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant. A study by Domar’s Mind/Body Fertility Program found that 55 percent of previously infertile women who adopted techniques such as mindful meditation and hatha yoga conceived within six months after going through the 10-session program, compared to only 20 percent in a control group that used no mind-body techniques.
Now we know why. Researchers from New Zealand have found that so-called RFRP neurons at the base of the brain get fired up when you are stressed and create a cascade of biochemical responses that suppress fertility. Their study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, may be the key to developing a new way to overcome infertility by selectively blocking RFRP’s action.
Until then, if you’re having trouble getting pregnant, we suggest you use these insights and work to banish your chronic stress responses. You can take up meditation (10 minutes morning and night); search for links to free online meditation classes. Or download the Cleveland Clinic’s Mindful Moments app. Great yoga classes are available at DoYogaWithMe.com.
How obesity dings immune strength and fuels cancer
The heaviest man ever is thought to have been Jon Brower Minnoch. When he was admitted to Seattle’s University Hospital in 1978, his endocrinologist estimated he weighed 1,400 pounds. While that degree of obesity is extraordinarily rare, the latest information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that 73 percent of U.S. adults are overweight, 42 percent are obese and 10 percent are severely obese. These days, so many people are seeing their RealAge surpass their chronological age and their health destroyed.
One very important way that excess adipose (fat) tissue imperils health is revealed in a study published in the journal Cell. Researchers from Harvard Medical School have figured out that obesity lets cancer cells get the fuel they need to thrive and their rapacious appetite deprives tumor-killing cells of fuel they must have to battle cancer successfully. The cancer cells also rewire their metabolism to respond to a high-fat diet and that makes tumors grow faster.
These findings are in line with research that shows older women who are overweight have increased levels of estrogen and insulin — both of which increase breast cancer risk. And another study found that obese men are 52 percent more likely to die from cancer than normal weight men, and obese women’s risk is 62 percent greater than normal weight women.
Your best cancer-fighting options include achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, reducing your stress response, getting regular physical activity, and eliminating ultra-processed foods and red meats from your diet. Your tumor-fighting immune cells will thank you!
How stair climbing reveals your level of heart health
Finnish hockey star Toni Leinonen climbed 426 stairs up the Malminkartano Hill near Helsinki in an astounding 58.75 seconds. Impressive, but fortunately not necessary to get the measure of your heart health, according to research presented at a 2020 meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.
Researchers evaluated how much time it took 165 folks who had symptoms of coronary artery disease, such as chest pain or shortness of breath during exertion, to ascend 60 steps at a good clip — but not running. Turns out if you can do that in less than a minute you have pretty good heart health (it could be better). If you can do it in less than 40 to 45 seconds you have a low mortality rate — just 1 percent or less per year, or 10 percent in 10 years. But, if it takes you 90 seconds or more, you should actively work with your doctor to protect your heart. (When Dr. Mike captained the U.S. squash team for the 1984 Pan American Games, he trained, in part, by climbing up and down 16 stories during lunch breaks.)
To incorporate stair climbing into a workout, folks without heart disease can adopt an intermittently-intense stair exercise routine. Search “stairs” to check out “exercise snacking” at DoctorOz.com. One option: climbing 60 steps three times a day, waiting one to four hours between “snacks” for optimal benefits. Folks with diagnosed (or suspected) heart disease should always talk to their doc first! Ask about using cardio rehab or physical therapy to safely get into it.
Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. To live your healthiest, tune into “The Dr. Oz Show” or visit www.sharecare.com.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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