The size of your waist matters more, along with your body fat percentage, which matters most.
The larger your waist the more fat you’re likely to be carrying in the torso, and the torso is where your vital organs are. There’s a difference between carrying fat on your bum or legs, where it’s quite safe, and carrying it on your liver, kidneys and heart. Carrying fat on and in the torso can increase your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers, and makes life hard for your organs.
So, get your tape measure out and measure around your stomach, roughly level with your navel, or where you think your waist is. For optimum health your waist should be less than:
- 94cm (37ins) for men
- 80cm (31.5ins) for women
You are at a very high risk if your waist is:
- 102cm (40ins) for men
- 88cm (34ins) for women
If your waist is bigger than is healthy then you could really focus on following one of our nutrition plans and start being more active. Running has a marked effect on reduction of visceral fat (that’s fat stored inside the abdomen).
And we think that running is the best type of exercise for most people!
Nutrition for Everyone
Add more life to your years with a beautiful, healthy Mediterranean-style diet.
