Personalized Medicine

If you have a Body Mass Index¹ of 30 or more, skip this post. You already know that obesity is the expressway to debilitating disease and early death. This piece is directed to those of you basking in the assurance of a much publicized study that being overweight (BMI between 25 and 30) might actually be beneficial to health.

Fact or misinterpretation?

We start by acknowledging that you are not alone, falling instead in the growing ranks of the Great North American Bulge. Oversized waistlines are as much a hallmark of the 21^st century as the sedentary, wired, prepackaged, convenience-driven relentless lifestyles that cause them.

But that’s where our sympathy ends.

Current research suggests that when you take in more nutrients than your body needs, it changes the way cells process these nutrients. Mitochondria (the energy stations in the cell) become sluggish and start actively accumulating fat stores rather than producing energy. Altered metabolism results in the production of highly reactive molecules called “free radicals”.

Free radicals set off inflammation throughout the body. Inflammation, we are now learning, is the starting point for most chronic disease.

For instance, it blocks the action of the hormone insulin (which controls blood sugar levels) resulting in “insulin resistance” in the body, which then leads to “adult onset” Type 2 diabetes.

Inflammation in the lining of blood vessels inhibits production of nitric oxide, which causes arterial narrowing. In the long run, continued inflammation leads to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, several cancers, arthritis, and a host of other immune disorders.

Inflammation is notoriously silent in its early stages. It lurks and grows in your body, as you go about carrying that excess weight with no apparent effects on your health. It is easy to fall into the trap of complacency, only to discover a few pounds later that it is too late.

The much talked about November 2007 study in the Journal of American Medical Association reported that being overweight was not associated with increased heart disease or cancer related deaths. In interpreting this information, we must remember that they were only looking at causes of mortality, and not the occurrence of heart disease or cancer, in various weight categories. The media also failed to highlight the higher rates of deaths from diabetes and kidney disease in the overweight category.

Being slightly overweight may have one advantage, in that the higher fat stores do assist in better recovery from adverse events such as infections or surgical procedures due to higher nutritional reserves.

That is poor consolation given the overriding and devastating long term complications of inflammation that are triggered by those few extra pounds.

1. Body Mass Index (BMI) is calculated is a measure of height and weight. Click here to calculate your BMI. A BMI of 18.5-24.9 is defined as “normal” weight; BMI of 25-29.9 = “overweight”; BMI of 30 or more = “obese”.