YAY! I am vindicated! Pass that pint of Ben and Jerry's right on over - Granite Grok

YAY! I am vindicated! Pass that pint of Ben and Jerry’s right on over

Even better if it’s “Chocolate Therapy” for desert.  I’ll take the Prime Rib Medium please….:

In a review of almost 100 past studies covering nearly three million people, researchers found that being overweight or slightly obese was linked to about a 6 percent lower risk of dying, compared to people considered “normal weight.

Being severely obese, however, was still tied to an almost 30 percent higher risk of death.

The idea that being somewhat overweight could be linked to better health has been dubbed the obesity paradox, even though actual obesity is generally not associated with the apparent “benefit.”

“This is actually the common finding,” said the new study’s lead author Katherine Flegal, a senior scientist from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Hyattsville, Maryland.

Her work, she said, confirms what previous analyses found – a link between being somewhat overweight and having a lower risk of death.

OK, I might need to shed a few pounds to be in that sweet spot (methink I may be a bit higher than needed)

…The paradox, as scientists have called it, is based on past findings that suggest overweight and obese people – even those with additional health problems – live longer than their thinner counterparts.

…For Heymsfield, the findings reinforce the common belief that increased weight is tied to an increased risk of death, but highlights the fact that someone classified as “overweight” is not necessarily “very unhealthy.”

On the other hand, he warns, important markers of health, such as blood pressure and cholesterol, do respond to minor changes in weight.

“So gaining that extra 10 or 20 pounds can put you into a dangerous category, and it’s important to find out if you’re one of those people,” he said.

Indeed.  Go read the whole thing.  My takeaway is that I’m not gonna stress if I don’t look like some of those male models my age (not that I’ve let that bother me for quite some time anyways).
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