Weight Management

Health experts worldwide recognize the critical role of weight management in helping to achieve optimal health. With record levels of obesity – in adults and children - and increased incidence of the detrimental health effects that may result, this growing issue has taken center stage.

According to the American Heart Association obesity is a major health risk factor that can lead to a shortened life span – on average 6 to 7 years less than a normal weight individual. Why? Obesity is linked to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

The American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR) recommends maintaining a healthy weight throughout life to decrease the chance of developing cancer. It notes on its website that there is convincing evidence that (excess) body fat increases the risk for cancers of the esophagus, pancreas, colon, rectum, endometrium, kidney and breast (the latter in post-menopausal women.) Further, the AICR states that “maintaining a healthy weight may be the single most important way to protect against cancer.”

Research also indicates that being overweight can result in insulin resistance: When we eat, our food turns into glucose, a normal blood sugar that is used for energy. Insulin facilitates the uptake of glucose from the blood to our cells, so that it can be used by the body. If a person is insulin resistant, the body becomes less responsive to insulin and blood glucose isn’t taken up by the cells as readily, which results in high blood sugar.

Insulin resistance has long been linked with Type 2 diabetes, however today it is also linked to other diseases including cardiovascular disease and cancer and Alzheimer’s. Insulin resistance is also a key risk factor in what is known as Metabolic Syndrome, which is a group of risk factors that includes elevated insulin levels along with increased blood pressure, high glucose levels, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol levels. Having at least three of these risk factors indicates Metabolic Syndrome and the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes is increased.

Maintaining a healthy weight is critical to good health. Pears have an important role to play in weight management: being naturally low in calories and fat is critical, but fiber - plus deliciousness - are also key.

Apple Shape/Pear Shape: A Critical Difference

An “apple shape” generally refers to an overweight or obese person carrying their excess body fat mainly in the waist and abdominal area, which includes deep fat stored in and around the organs in the abdomen. Overweight apples have an excess of the harmful visceral fat.

Those carrying their excess body fat around their hips and thighs are considered to have a “pear shape.” This fat, known as subcutaneous fat, lies on the top of muscle and is considered to be a less harmful type of fat storage. Pears may carry extra weight in their hips and lower body, but research suggests that this fat distribution may help to protect women from heart damage.

Looks Can Be Deceiving: How to Determine Your Apple or Pear Shape

A person with a waist of 38 inches and hips of 44 inches (38/44 = .86) is an apple shape.

A person with a waist of 31 inches and hips of 45 inches (31/45 = .68) is a pear-shape.

All our traditional notions about shape and fat are undergoing radical changes. But there are ways to use new findings to understand your body type better.

Here’s how to find your apple or pear fat-storage shape:

Most simply, the Apple body carries the excess weight above the waist; the Pear body carries the excess weight below the waist.

You can also measure your waist-to-hip ratio by dividing waist circumference by hip circumference. If the result is 0.8 or lower you have a pear shape body; if result is larger than 0.8 you have an apple shape body.

Apple or Pear: Embrace Who You Are Now

Rest assured that one’s fate isn’t already determined by apple or pear shape. And remember that these “shapes” refer to excess weight/ fat distribution. While there is not much anyone can do about their genes that determine body type, the key is to avoid weight gain. Or if you’ve gained weight, resolve first to stop gaining any more weight, and then ultimately to lose it. Maintaining a healthy weight is a key defense against many detrimental health issues. For example, an overweight apple can become a healthy apple by losing inches from their middle.

For both apples and pear women experiencing menopause, fat may settle into the abdominal/belly area. A great deal of this fat gain can be attributed to lifestyle, not genes. Too little exercise and too much food can add pounds to visceral fat. Aerobic exercise may result in greater loss of abdominal fat then just reducing food intake, but when you lose weight overall, you still lose belly fat too.

The News About Fat

Today, new insights into the role of fat in our bodies – its impact on our heart, our cancer risk, our joints and even our brain health - is fueling an intensity of focus on weight that is unmatched in recent history. Why?

What We Know Now That We Didn’t Know “Then”

In the recent past, most of us considered excess body fat an inert extra layer (or more) of flesh - a nuisance, perhaps, but not harmful. Today, we know differently.

Basically, fat – particularly the fat in our abdomen, including the deep fat stored in and around the organs in the abdomen called visceral fat - is now considered “active tissue” demonstrating metabolic activity that is detrimental to health. In essence, abdominal or visceral fat cells act like a glandular organ, producing estrogen and secreting a variety of proteins that can cause a state of chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation in the body is bad news, as it is associated with a wide range of debilitating conditions including insulin resistance (key in Type 2 diabetes), heart disease, arthritis, cancers, and Alzheimer’s, among others.

Subcutaneous fat, the layer of fat right beneath the skin in other areas of the body, appears to have less harmful an impact. Thus, where one carries their excess fat has major implications for health, and this is where the terms “apple” and “pear” emerged to help people visualize and make the link to their own fat storage pattern.

Advice For the Shape You're In

Dr. Marie Savard, M.D., ABC News Medical Contributor and author of Apples and Pears: The Body Shape Solution For Weight Loss and Wellness offers the following recommendations for women of all shapes.

“Apples”:

• Eat fiber-filled foods, (such as pears!) to slow digestion of sugars, lower insulin and cholesterol levels, and lower risk of heart disease and diabetes.
• Do aerobic exercise.
• Get tested for blood sugar and fat levels.
• Work to lose inches off your waist. An overweight apple can become a healthy apple!

“Pears”:

• Eat low-fat foods (such as pears!).
• Do resistance training to help strengthen bones.
• As you approach menopause, be sure to get a bone density scan. According to Dr. Savage, Pears have less androgen and estrogen, which may decrease their ability to keep calcium in their bones.

More Achievable Weight Loss/Maintenance Tips Courtesy of California Pears

Where to Start

• If you are overweight, start with the achievable goal of not gaining any more weight over the next month or so. When you are confident in your ability to maintain your weight, then select a change in your lifestyle. Success is based on keeping small actions going over a long period of time. Really.

What to Eat

• Eating high-fiber, delicious foods that are low in calories - like all varieties of pears - will help you fill full and satisfied.
• Select a combination of protein, good fats - but less of them - and consume your carbohydrates in the form of whole foods such as pears.
• Select foods that are minimally processed, as close to their natural state as possible. Processed foods contain high levels of sodium, trans fat and fat in general.

How to Eat

• Don’t go for long periods without eating. This increases the amount of the hormone “ghrelin,” which unfortunately also increases your appetite.
• Eating out usually means taking in a much larger amount of calories than eating at home. If you eat out, make sure that you are benefiting from a place to relax and enjoy the meal.
• Eating “on the run” is not a special meal – it’s mindless eating. Plan ahead for snacks and quick meals. Pears are an excellent choice to pack along.

Move It and Lose It

• There’s no way around it: Exercise is critical to weight maintenance.

Remember, maintaining a healthy weight is a life-long process.