You have likely observed that humans, especially overweight humans, come in a variety of shapes and sizes. We all know that excess body fat is not a good thing for health, nor for self esteem. But where fat is distributed on the body plays a big role in whether excess fat increases risk for conditions such as type 2 diabetes, coronary disease, stroke, cancer, cognitive decline, dementia, and premature death—or whether it is only a cosmetic issue and a challenge to weight-bearing joints but not for all the common chronic conditions mentioned. Doctors often rely on a measure called the body-mass index, or BMI. BMI is obtained through a simple calculation (or referring to a table that lists BMIs) of height divided by weight. A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal, overweight is 25 to 29.9, over 30 is obese. But BMI suffers from a fundamental flaw: It assumes that body fat is distributed uniformly throughout the body which, of course, it is not. They also rely on total weight which also does not necessarily give you any real health insights. So let’s talk about how you can do better than the doctor to make determinations about whether the fat on your body is interfering with your health and longevity or whether it is not.________________________________________________________________________________________________Get your Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, and low-carb snack bars:Use the coupon code "Defiant" for an additional 15% discount. Go to this pageon the Paleovalley website, enter the code and the discount will be automatically applied to your order.They are currently offering a 12% discount that continues for life for their Wild Pastures grass-fed, grass-finished beef and pastured chicken and pork! Go herefor more information.*Dr. Davis and his organization are financially compensated for supporting Paleovalley and their products. ________________________________________________________________________________________________More about my new book, Super Gut: A Four-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight:https://www.wheatbellyblog.com/super-gut/For more information on Dr. Davis’ programs:Books:Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose WeightWheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded editionWheat Belly 10-Day Grain DetoxThis Old TreeHeritage trees and the human stories behind them.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify