People that have an apple shape tend to carry most of their weight around their waist and midsection of the body. According to Dr. Laurence Sperling of Preventive Cardiology at the Emory Clinic in Atlanta, this type of body shape can put your heart at great risk. There are steps that can be taken to lose weight if you are an apple shape so that you can reduce the associated health risks.
What Causes the Apple Shape
According to Nancy Snyderman, M.D., high levels of testosterone in the body lead to body fat being stored in and around the abdominal area. Since testosterone is the cause, this is why so many men have beer bellies. Women can also suffer from high levels of testosterone in the body, which causes their apple shape also. The fat also gets stored around the kidneys, liver, heart and intestines.
Health Risks of the Apple Shape
Due to the way that fat is stored in an apple-shaped body, the functions of vital organs are compromised. According to Snyderman, this can lead to several different health complications. These health risks include heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and some cancers. To check if you are at risk, measure the circumference of your waist. If the measurement around your waist in inches is less than half of your height in inches then you are not at risk. Measurements should be checked periodically to assess risk.
Weight Loss Plan
According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, senior researcher David Ludwig discovered that a low-glycemic diet is the most beneficial in helping apple-shaped people lose weight. An example of a low-glycemic diet is the Mediterranean diet. A low-glycemic diet focuses on fewer carbs and more healthy oils, seeds and nuts. This type of diet consists of healthy oils, like olive oil, lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and beans. Things like white rice, white bread, prepared cereals, cookies, crackers and sugar-filled foods are not part of a low-glycemic diet. In Ludwigs study, apple-shaped dieters averaged a 13-pound loss in six months on a low-glycemic diet.
Bella Online (see Resources) has a glycemic index list of foods. The list is based on the research of two consultants to the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Arianna Carughi, Ph.D., C.N.S. and Gene Spiller, Ph.D., C.N.S. The list is broken down into "Go" and "No" columns, with the "Go" column containing foods have have a low-glycemic index. The "Go" column is the one you should eat from if you want to be on a low-glycemic diet for apple shaped weight loss.
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