Time to chuck away those diet books...

[ajva]

...and hit the gym instead?

clarification: The main point of this for me is that, should these findings be confirmed and the idea that fit=healthy whatever the weight be more widely accepted (and I don't see why not), then it will invalidate all pro-diet arguments which rest on the premise that it is unhealthy to be overweight.

Comments

[ajva.livejournal.com]

I know this is an important issue, but the article I quote seems to go a little further than that. For example, this:

In the first [study], published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, levels of C-reactive protein, a risk factor for heart disease, were measured in a group of young men; the lowest readings were recorded in those who worked out most often, regardless of how much they weighed.

I don't see that this is necessarily directly related to the fat/muscle ratio, although of course it may well be - I'm no expert. The emphasis given to cardiovascular exercise in the article also seems to suggest that, say, resistance training alone won't cut the mustard either. The important point, though, seems to be that, if one is worried about the supposed health implications of being fat, then losing weight per se is pointless because it won't improve health. It is the exercise level that matters.

Interesting, no? :o)

Of course - it's only a couple of studies and you can't take them in isolation blah blah and so on.