'Healthy Obesity' - Another Scientific Study Provides Evidence That It May Be A Myth

in #science8 years ago (edited)

A study published yesterday (on August 18th) in Cell Reports provides more further evidence against concept of “healthy obesity”.
To surprise, mRNA sequencing of white fat tissue samples showed a clear distinction between individuals who have never been obese and both groups of obese individuals.
The research points out that white fat tissue samples from obese individuals categorized as either metabolically healthy or unhealthy, actually show almost identical, abnormal changes in gene expression in response to stimulation by insulin. These abnormal gene expression patterns were not influenced by cardiovascular or metabolic risk factors such as heart rate, blood pressure, or waist-to-hip ratio. The results show that obesity, rather than other frequent risk factors is likely to be the main factor, which determines metabolic health.

The notion of "healthy obesity" has become popular over the past 15 years, but recently scientists started to question its existence.

Sources:
"The Adipose Transcriptional Response to Insulin Is Determined by Obesity, Not Insulin Sensitivity"
http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/pdf/S2211-1247(16)31014-2.pdf

"Metabolically healthy obesity"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolically_healthy_obesity

-logic

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First world problems. Everyone wants to feel like a victim nowadays and defy all logic to live their own perceived virtuous lifestyle. If you want to be obese, have some sort of fat fetish, that's fine with me, but understand that it's not a healthy lifestyle. "Fat" successful athletes are different from your average fat person who never exercises in that their body fat percentage is often lower than what people expect when looking superficially.

I wrote this in reference to a heavyweight Olympic athlete:

Very impressive. Shame that fat acceptance people will use her to promote lazy fuck unhealthy behaviors. No, she's nothing like the fat acceptance losers. You are right that it's what's on the inside that counts and she's nothing like them on the inside, mentally or physiologically.

Unlike your typical fat fuck, she's a prime physical specimen. If you can throw 350 pounds over your head, then that means that your body has taken the optimal form to accomplish that task. If you're a couch potato who weighs the same as her, you couldn't even lift 50 pounds over your head. That makes you absolutely nothing like her on the inside.

Let's see your muscles on the inside and your mindset to work hard and overcome all obstacles on the inside... Oh wait.

I bet that she eats clean, trains hard, and has overcame all kinds of obstacles with an antifragile mindset. She is to be saluted. Losers who have never trained a day in their lives should not appropriate her success ignorantly.

Similarly, 99% of fat people have nothing in common with NFL linemen and sumo wrestlers, yet pretend that it's okay to be fat because these athletes look fat while completely ignoring their hidden muscular structure and cardiovascular fitness level. So it's the politically correct people who are actually the most shallow minded and hypocritical. They judge people by how they look rather than their real abilities and character.

Thank you for your coherent comment.

There are also very small percentage of people that become obese due to certain illnesses, which makes it very difficult for them to lose weight unless they work out extremely hard and dramatically change their diet. So we cannot really be ever sure, that someone is obese, because of their lack of physical workout.

When it comes to heavyweight sports people, they are sometimes both muscular and obese. Maybe the extra weight coming from fat tissue helps them to get better momentum when lifting weight, I don't know. All I have learnt is that those obese heavyweight lifters can still have serious health problems due to obesity. They are certainly healthier than obese people who do not do any physical activity but they are unlikely to be healthier than other heavyweight lifters who aren't obese.

Regarding bodybuilding. Going to extremes with body building is not healthy neither.
Developing extensive muscle bulkiness is not sustainable. Overdeveloping of one body system puts stress on other body systems like skeletal system, cardiovascular system, digestive system (for example, through saturation with forced high protein diet) and so on. From scientific perspective extensive bodybuilding is an unsustainable physical workout. It is an activity which has it's oots in the value system of our culture. It is unsustainable, just like many other physical activities within our culture (fighting sport is one of the examples - smashing each other's faces and brains for competition and entertainment of others).
Just because something is popular and considered normal within society, does not necessarily make it sustainable, logical and scientific.
From evolutionary point of view (foraging, then hunting and foraging), our bodies have evolved to function better if we have leaner and more athletic body rather than muscle-bulky. This sustainable and healthy body frame/state is being shaped by anaerobic and aerobic physical physical workout, not by bodybuilding workout.
Hominae (including us) have evolved through millions of years by performing a lot of anaerobic and aerobic not by wasting energy and time on pointless heavy lifting (unless occasionally forced to carry something). Bodybuilding is an invention of 20th century. It had never been popular before, with few exceptions like some wrestling in Ancient Greece, although even at that time it wasn't to such extent. Also Ancient Greek olympics were more about admiration of human body (athletes performed naked), rather than competition. Overdevelopment of muscle system requires a lot of nutrition and energy food resource, so this activity wasn't possible at the times of resource scarcity. Now it is possible since we eradicated food scarcity in Western countries, hence this "sport" became so popular in the West. In Asia and Africa this activity is still not very popular. Specifically in Asia, their cultures have been focused more on internal development (yoga, internal martial arts, tai-chi, etc).

Good points. Any sport taken to the highest level is not simultaneously optimal for longevity.

I've been involved in the bodybuilding community for a few years and it's quite an interesting one. Plenty of people will continuously tell people that they are "100% natural" without anyone asking and they are usually the ones who are using tons of anabolics. It was also fascinating to learn about how athletes of other sports get away with anabolic use using some very clever methods. Nobody in professional sports are truly clean.

Also, Olympic lifting is very very different from bodybuilding. If you do a snatch next to a typical bodybuilder, he will act like you're completely insane and tell you that "you're gonna snap your shit up". Your body adapts to take on the ideal form for your particular sport within the constraints of your genetics.

I find that Asia is becoming increasingly westernized and that America is becoming increasingly easternized. There are tons of gyms in China now and it's quite easy to get your hands on anabolics there. Also, I don't believe there's a real difference between internal vs. external martial arts. Bruce Lee and Joe Rogan had both said some great stuff regarding this topic. It basically comes down to that you have to do what works or you'd your ass handed to you in a real fight, which can be seen as a form of scientific experimentation to figure out the optimal form.

As for the philosophy of bodybuilding, I highly recommend watching Frank Yang's videos:

These are just a few. He's one of the most entertaining and thought provoking thinkers I've ever encountered.

I agree with everything. It's so true about westernisation of East and easternization of West. Even B. Lee got attracted to body building later in life.
Also true about optimisation of your personal abilities and myth of external\ internal. Thanks for videos and very valid and interesting comment :-)

I am myself not genetically designed to have large muscle mass so it would be hard for me to build up muscle without anabolics (I would never use them). I am quite good in endurance type of workout though (anaerobic, speed etc). I decided to test myself and run Spartan Race in 2 weeks, for the first time. I want to, also do it to promote Steemit. One post hit got me a bit of cash so I ordered performance vest with designed Steemit logo lol
I will post photos when get it :-)

[I have just finished watching all the above videos. I enjoyed watching them. Interesting guy. Thanks for links]

Nice! Good luck on your race! Do you know about Alex Viada? He competes at a high level in both ultra marathons and powerlifting. That's my goal in the long run.

Alex Viada - No, I haven't heard about him. I'm gonna google him up. Thanks :-)

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