Spelled using the letters F, A and T, fat is a word many despise, often thought as a disease, many a times a cause for controversy. Tis a state for the unwise, related to subjective measurement, linked to clothes sizes.
In my quest to stay healthy, I bumped into this article while surfing www.fitlineweightloss.com and I wish to paste it here in my blog... simply because.
Fat is Not All Bad!
by Anton Maartens
Body fat is not necessarily the ‘big bad enemy’ the fitness, beauty and weight loss industries will sometimes have us believe.
Yes, too much body fat is no doubt a serious health risk and can be very damaging to your well-being and quality of life.
Some of the health risks of having too much body fat include increased blood pressure, high cholesterol, cardiac problems, diabetes, varicose veins, cancer and an increased susceptibility to infections.
But that does not mean that body fat in itself is bad! Essential body fat is a very important source of energy for normal bodily functions and especially vital in maintaining the health of your heart and your immune system.
A healthy body composition is one of the crucial components of your overall health and fitness. Having too little body fat can be just as bad for your health as being overweight!
It is therefore important to rather focus your exercise and weight loss efforts on achieving 'leanness', and not ‘thinness’ (the way it is often promoted in beauty and fashion magazines).
The amount of body fat that you need to stay healthy is at least 8 - 15% for women and 5 - 8% for men.
However, body fat recommendations for top athletes often tend to be lower than the levels normally prescribed for the general population, because it is believed that too much body fat may hinder the athlete’s performance.
A person’s body composition is usually divided into lean body weight and fat weight. Your fat weight is then expressed as a percentage of your total body weight by using this formula:
body fat percentage = (fat weight ÷ total body weight) x 100
Experts disagree on how much body fat is too much, but the following general guidelines are a reasonable estimate:
Obese: More than 33% for women and more than 26% for men
Overweight: Between 28% and 33% for women and between 21% and 26%
Acceptable: Between 17% and 28% for women and between 12% and 21% for men
Lean: Less than 17% for women and less than 12% for men
Underweight: Less than 8% for women and 5% for men
There you go. See, not all fat is bad.
p/s: Note that this article, is pasted here paramountly is for my personal collection only (read: my personal knowledge enrichment program). Takde kena mengena dengan yang hidup atau yang telah pergi atau yang terasa ada kena mengena dengan hal ini. Thank you.
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