Healthy Weight Before 50 Spells Survival for Women.
Want to live a long and healthy life? Increasingly, research points to healthy weight—or healthy weight loss—between the ages 20 and 50.
Fat loss, particularly fat around the waistline, helps prevent cancer, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, depression, and other devastating kinds of chronic disease including Parkinson’s, MS, and Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). Because women tend to live longer, they’re more likely to suffer chronic disease or mental health problems. That’s no way to enjoy longevity!
“The best way to maximize the probability of healthy survival is to maintain at least moderate levels of physical activity and healthy body weight throughout adulthood,” says researcher Qi Sun, MD, in the nutrition department at Harvard School of Public Health.
Reaching epidemic proportions in the U.S., obesity has also been linked to lower cognitive function (loss of memory, attention, and other thinking skills). In fact, new Canadian research finds age less important to brain function than weight.
Dr. Ann Louise’s Take:
Right from the start, healthy weight loss has been central to both my nutrition practice and my books. Unfortunately, the medical community wasted years making Americans fear healthy fat. Instead, they promoted margarine (a prime source of dangerous trans fat) and sugary, high-glycemic foods as “fat free.”
Fans of The Fat Flush Plan, one of my New York Times best-selling books, know that certain essential and healthy fats not only promote health and longevity but also healthy weight loss. By following this plan, millions of people have lost water weight and abdominal fat.
Whether you’re trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, good fat:
· Transports fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, critical to longevity and health (vitamin D is also linked to increased survival rates for women)
· Slows the absorption of high-glycemic foods, balancing blood sugar levels and supporting cognitive function
· Is essential for serotonin, a brain chemical that fights depression and controls food cravings
· Helps conserve muscle-building protein, essential for physical activity that promotes longevity and helps maintain a healthy weight.
Every single cell in your body is protected by a membrane composed mostly of fat. Shouldn’t it be good fat if you want to prevent chronic disease—and remember exactly where you parked the car?
Your brain is 60 percent fat. Is it any wonder that good fat supports mental health, helping to fight depression and focus attention at any age? Or that your body craves fat—any fat—when you eat a high-glycemic, low-fat diet?
A little fat goes a long way. All you need is a couple of daily tablespoons of oil from fish, flaxseed, olive, macadamia nuts, sesame seeds, or even coconut. Although it’s a saturated fat, a little coconut oil doesn’t cause obesity because it’s easily converted into energy rather than being deposited as abdominal fat.
Also include some lean protein from omega-3-rich fish and seafood, grass-fed meats, and free-range poultry in your diet. Snack on low-sugar fruits (apples, berries, cherries, pears, plums). And indulge in all the low-glycemic vegetables—raw or steamed—you can eat. Arugula, asparagus, green beans, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, daikon (great fat burner), jicama, kale, mushrooms, radicchio, and sprouts are great choices for healthy weight and longevity.
Sources:
https://women.webmd.com/news/20090929/womens-weight-tied-to-healthy-aging
https://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/339/sep29_1/b3796
https://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v17/n10/abs/oby2009161a.html
