| The fat you cannot see - cholesterol |
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If you look down at your lithe body and think the problem of excess weight has nothing to do with you, hold on a minute. Fat is a sneaky culprit, and it can be killing you without leaving a single stretch mark. Remember Jim Fixx, the guru of the running world who dropped dead mid-stride with barely an ounce of visible fat on his body? The problem was that although his body was fat-free, his arteries were probably loaded with soluble fat of the kind caused by eating animal fats, high saturated fats and the new trans fats contained in products with partially hydrogenated oils.
Determining whether you're at risk due to too much dietary fat is not achieved by looking in the mirror, at the bathroom scale or the height-age-weight charts. The only way to accurately and objectively evaluate your body fat is to have a body composition test. The only way to evaluate the fat in your arteries is to have a blood serum test. There are a variety of tests available today. For body fat, there are electrical impedance tests and the tried-and-true calipers. If you use calipers, make sure the test is performed at different points of your body (triceps, chest, back, abdomen, and legs) and performed twice to ensure an accurate reading. On the average, the ideal percentage of body fat for men is between 16 and 19; for women it is between 22-25. Generally, as we age we tend to carry more body fat than in our youth. Men carry 3 per cent essential fat. The ideal optimum for athletes has often been cited as 12-20 per cent for women, 7-12 per cent for men. Bodybuilders, however, strive for even lower body fat. A number of tests are available for blood serum too. The best test will be one performed by your physician, where he or she can interpret the results for you. Most probably these tests will give you a single number reading. In general, under 200 means you're fine. If you test over 200, you will need to follow up with you physician for a test which can determine the LDL (bad cholesterol) and HDL (good cholesterol) in your blood.                 |
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