Friday Favorites: What's the Ideal BMI and Waist Size?
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- Опубликовано: 6 июл 2023
- Is there a unisex chart to see what your optimal weight might be based on your height? Increased risk of metabolic complications starts at an abdominal circumference of 31.5 inches in women and 37 inches in most men, though it’s closer to 35.5 inches for South Asian, Chinese, and Japanese men.
This video may be triggering for people with a history of eating disorders. While there is an optimum waist size for health, it is important that one does not go to extreme measures to achieve these numbers, as this can result in devastating physical and mental consequences. For those struggling with an eating disorder, consider checking out www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/.
If you missed the previous videos in this obesity series, see:
• The Best Knee Replacement Alternative for Osteoarthritis Treatment (nutritionfacts.org/video/the-b...)
• The Effects of Obesity on Back Pain, Blood Pressure, Cancer, and Diabetes (nutritionfacts.org/video/the-e...)
• The Effects of Obesity on Dementia, Brain Function, and Fertility (nutritionfacts.org/video/the-e...)
• The Effects of Obesity on Gallstones, Acid Reflux, and Cardiovascular Disease (nutritionfacts.org/video/the-e...)
• The Effects of Obesity on the Immune System and Kidney and Liver Diseases (nutritionfacts.org/video/the-...)
• Is the Obesity Paradox Real or a Myth? (nutritionfacts.org/video/is-t...)
While we should not understate the health risks that obesity raises-all of which are outlined in my series on the ABCs of obesity-we also recognize the effects that stigma against body size has on one’s health.:
nutritionfacts.org/video/weig... (nutritionfacts.org/video/weig...)
nutritionfacts.org/video/the-... (nutritionfacts.org/video/the-...)
I cover all of this and more at length in my book How Not to Diet (nutritionfacts.org/how-not-to.... Its companion Cookbook (nutritionfacts.org/book/how-n...) has more than 100 delicious Green-Light recipes that incorporate some of my 21 Tweaks (nutritionfacts.org/video/trai...) for the acceleration of body fat loss.
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Have a question about this video? Leave it in the comment section at nutritionfacts.org/video/frida... and someone on the NutritionFacts.org team will try to answer it.
Want to get a list of links to all the scientific sources used in this video? Click on Sources Cited at nutritionfacts.org/video/frid.... You’ll also find a transcript and acknowledgements for the video, my blog and speaking tour schedule, and an easy way to search (by translated language even) through our videos spanning more than 2,000 health topics.
Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM
Captions for this video are available in several languages; you can find yours in the video settings. View important information about our translated resources: nutritionfacts.org/translatio...
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This man should win a national medal for his contributions to society. He shares knowledge for the benefit of the general population and that is simply a noble endeavor. Congratulations Dr. Greger for all you do. You have my most sincere and profound respect for what you do. I learn something new from your videos every week.
You have no idea what youre talking about. He downplays the severity of inflammation in HFCS while claiming red meat is the highest contributing factor to diabetes. We know for a fact this is false. Hes smug, narcissistic, amd condescending.
This man needs a decent meal
@@cornstar1253 okay fatso
THANK YOU for this!! Now I have motivation to stop accepting 24BMI as 'good enough' and will have more motivation to lose weight!
I love this channel ... and as of today, 7th July 2023, so do another 983,000 people. Thanks and congratulations to Michael Greger and the team.
@@Goodmorning1221- Keep repeating that but you're talking to yourself.
@@Goodmorning1221- Not every video topic is relevant to everyone. And you don't need to see each one to get the key takeaway, anyway - just eat more gosh darn plants.
@@AndrewPawley11 yet here you are, watching, reading and replying
@@Goodmorning1221- August 1 2023 and subscribers are up to 995,000
A few months after Covid started circulating around the world, I saw a chart produced in China that showed the BMI of people who had died. The lowest level at BMI of 18 showed no loss of life and that even in the "normal" range above that number there was a loss of life increasing incrementally.
A BMI of 18 is not very healthy though. My friend has gone into hospital (today actually) because he has a problem with his intestines and he's not properly absorbing his food. His BMI is 18 and they are so concerned they are tube feeding him. Just to check do you remember if that chart was adjusted proportionally? As in, it's uncommon to have a BMI of 18 so that might be why fewer ppl in that group passed away whereas in many places higher BMI is more common so there would be a higher number of COVID deaths in those bmis just cos they are more common in the population
Younger people are least affected by covid (and all diseases) and have the lowest bmi than older generations
@@larryc1616 The BMI I mentioned was that of 18, the lowest in the healthy range. The chart included all age groups.
@@lana7422 obesity, old age and pre-existing medical conditions are all high risk factors to covid. That's why the least affected groups are babies, kids, teens and young adults who are healthier, lower bmi and least amounts of pre-existing medical conditions like obesity, high BP, diabetes, cancer, lung disease, etc.
@@larryc1616 Larry, I guess you are a newbie to the WFPB lifestyle. Many of the rural Chinese are very slim because they have naturally been eating mostly a whole food vegetable and rice diet since childhood. Therefore they are not all children and babies and many elderly are in very good health even in the cities. So the chart may be weighted slightly toward the very young, but not wholly. And the disease rate is very low among the elderly even in this country who have a WFPB lifestyle...as in the Seventh Day Adventists in California as a group.
One thing that's slightly frustrating is the lack of research on BMIs that are on the lower side (e.g from 18-20) its not really known whether risk increases there (assuming the lowish BMI is not caused by something pathological or an eating disorder) or stays broadly the same.
Thank you so much for this comment. I never see anything on lower BMIs! Why aren’t there any studies out there except for higher BM I? When you are eating a Whole Foods plant based diet you can only eat so much.
I think the lack of research on people with BMIs of 18 to 20 is due to the lack of people in this range. I happen to be one of these oddballs, along with Taylor Swift, Mandy Moore, Victoria Justice, and Ashley Tisdale. (Just don't expect me to be as good-looking, as charming, or as graceful as these stunningly beautiful celebrities.)
We have studies that show lower caloric intakes equals longer life span, in all kinds of mammals including humans. It's not a stretch to extrapolate that to lower BMI increasing life span
@@ronaldhumphreys8776 Assuming the person is on an excellent diet of plant food and not a SAD and is in otherwise healthy condition, it could be that the "risks" of a lower BMI than the standard 18.5 may be exaggerated. I would love to see data and studies to confirm this.
@@ronaldhumphreys8776 The 'low BMI' catogary is just
My favorite metric is ABSI (A Body Shape Index). It takes into account height, weight, age, and waist circumference, and predicts health very closely.
So forget the chart. Get weighed in water ( hydrostatic underwater bmi test) A better gauge of your true BMI especially if you happen to be a muscular person. Waist to hip measurement is also good.
The information presented on this channel isn't always correct, based on my research, but on this topic he is spot on. As someone who lost 70 pound and has seen the many health benefits first hand, this pro-fat movement is utterly baffling to me. Is it really more important for people to "feel" good about themselves than to actually be healthy? I don't understand this thinking at all. I shouldn't be surprised because American culture has gone completely nuts in recent years, allowing the dumbest possible narratives to take hold, while rational discourse is often shut down because it doesn't feed into culture war insanity.
So ready for the studies on people eating whole plant foods exclusively to help guide us into our best potentials. Thanks so much Doc and staff for sharing these videos and saving lives ❤🥦
Thank you, Dr. Geiger and staff! 🥦
Outstanding episode - wow! Thanks.
That was super informative! Thank you!
I would add, to the “stand naked in front of a mirror” test, to jump up and down slightly. You’ll find out all you need to know! 😇
Bodybuilders, and even RUclips fitness gurus, are often taking more than just steroids, while engaging in other unhealthy activities. Their shortened life expectancy is a difficult problem to tease out.
@@ronaldhumphreys8776 Jim Arrington age 90 Guinness World Record's oldest bodybuilder.
Dr. Gregor is a God
Send! Thank you!
this is absolutely amazing! thank you so much!
BMI doesn't take muscle mass or bone density into account, and muscle loss (sarcopenia) and osteoporosis in old age are as important as other health factors, BMI is a useful rough tool but it has limitations
At 7:15 in the vid, he mentions that bmi seems to be more important than bodyfat %, and that seems to indicate being larger due to at or lean muscle is both negative. I'm sure there's a happy medium of muscle mass to sustain that offsets frailty though.
I have a buddy that takes this too far. At 58, he way overeats on protein all due podcasts he listened to about sarcopenia.
@@aNaturalistA lot of people who workout eat tons of meat.
The problem is that BMI is designed for men. It
offers little value for women with actual curves. I have seen regular size women with large breasts deemed overweight and even obese usng the BMI.
Women deserve a system that acknowledge that men and women are different. We are 51% of the population.
My wife is 5'5" and 135 pounds, with a BMI of 22.5. She would have to weigh 180 pounds to be considered obese! There is no way on Earth she could ever gain 45 pounds of fat and not notice. It would be clear to her and everyone else that she was obese. "Regular size women" are not pushed into the obese zone simply by having large breasts. True, BMI is less than perfect, but the current obesity epidemic is serious business and we need to use every tool we have.
This doctor is right. This is common knowledge outside America.
Being healthy doesn't stop or delay the moment of death but it does make you suffer less while you're alive since you're living in and with your body your whole life.
@@dianeladico1769 Death is unexpected and uncontrolled event so of course being healthy may help to live happier and quality days than being sick and stuffer. If you want to choose between a long life and be sick or to have a short life and be healthy, what do you want to choose!
@@dianeladico1769 Diseases aren't the only death reason. We don't control when to die but we can control how to live.
@@dianeladico1769 LMAO
@@samiryan214 You should have led with that and saved us both time.
@@dianeladico1769 Indeed
What about the consideration of muscle mass? I am considered slightly overweight, per BMI, I am 5’8 and weigh 175 pounds , which puts my BMI at 26.6, but I have very little fat, more lean muscle. I don’t get the BMI thing.
What about it? Which studies show that increased muscle mass, let alone 20lbs of muscle over normal body weight, means a healthier individual?
@@leftyfourguns
So Muscle = *BAD?*
Cool. Now all I have to do is lose over half my body weight.
You can do it 💪
OK 1. Should you adjust ideal BMI based on bone size and wrist measurement. 2. Should you adjust ideal BMI as you age since bone density decreases. 3. I see some ideal body fat % tables are adjusted upwards for age, thus do you need more body fat when you get old. 4. When measuring the waste do you choose to measure at the largest circumference or where your natural waste line is.
@@ronaldhumphreys8776 Yes I was in the Army for 16 years before being invalided out. We had a limit of 15% body fat before they put you on a diet.
Dr Geiger, have you read the popular book "Outlive" by Dr Peter Attia? What is your opinion on it?
Well, I'm now 5'4" having shrunk from 5'5 3/4 when I was young. I'm 108 after going vegan because I have damaged kidneys from childhood when I had a twisted ureter....and only found out in 2009 how damaged. So, I went on a low protein diet supplemented with pharmaceutical grade amino acids from the ONLY supplier here in the US. So, my creating is stable and the weight loss occurred. I feel fantastic! Most of my family is tall and slim so now I look like them! Yes, I am technically 9 lbs underweight according to this particular chart, but actually just on the low end or slightly under the normal range, not 9 lbs. according to a calculator. I can't eat enough to gain more weight. I once was 113 but dropped it while under stress tending to my mother as she died and it has never come back. At 72, I'm not wasted...just slim.
I just started using a body composition scale that says it can give you your visceral fat index. Hoping you will look into these at some point and make a video.
I am 5’5” and that is correct, between 120 and 132 is my ideal weight…I usually fluctuate between 122 and 128, but I feel best at the lower 120s.
If there is a global food shortage or famine at some point, then it will be the people at BMI 20 and lower that will have the shortest life spans 😂
HAES crazies will hate you for this. Keep it up!
I had a BMI of 21 when I was in my teens. Now I have considerably more muscle mass, it make no sense to go back to that weight..
Are you sure that much protein is healthy ?
20-21 BMI is so healthy I find, optimal for cardio also, and you can still workout and have solid performances everywhere.
He's talking about BMI without taking body composition (fat to fat-free mass) into consideration. People with well developed muscle mass are often within the overweight or obese BMI categories. People with very low muscle mass are often categorized as normal BMI, even with high, unhealthful body fat percentages.
He did address that issue in this talk
Excess muscle mass still puts strain on the heart.
At 6'5", when I dropped to a BMI of 24 (so on the high side according to some of the risk factors presented in this video), freinds and family were genuinely concerned about me, because I looked so unwell. I observe a relatively good vegan diet, with little highly processed food, and don't have a huge waist circumference or high body fat percentage. I seriously doubt that BMI works as a good indicator for someone of my build.
It is an oversimplification. It's handy and simple and a great starting point but we have individual body types so a calculation based on simply height and weight is inherently flawed at the ends of the spectrum.
I’m 6’4” and at one point I had gained weight to end up at about the same weight that you have now (200+lbs) and I’m fairly muscular. I’m amazed anyone would say you look unwell. What were they saying?
When I was at that BMI I remember being a bit thicker and in no way looked unhealthy. It sure sucked not fitting into my pants anymore… Once I dropped down to 160lbs I started feeling more energetic and noticed less joint pain. I looked more well defined, and nobody said I looked unwell. And I could finally button my pants again!
The problem with being very tall, like us, is that all the muscle and fat is stretched out, which I suspect may lead people to thinking you looked unhealthy.
I’ve heard people say this to some vegans, that they looked unhealthy, (due to low body fat?) and some used this to justify stopping the diet. I’d argue that these vegans need to start lifting weights to build muscle or take advantage of the small size for endurance sports.
@@Typhoonbladefist I'm short but I will say after I lost weight going WFPB, those who didn't know I'd made the change were worried I was sick, thinking the rapid weight loss was due to disease. Those who knew my new lifestyle said I looked great. Maybe since weight loss isn't typical as we age except with very bad things happening, that's the perception?
it doesn't work for any one with any muscle tone really .
I’m 72 years old and have lost almost an inch of height yet I weigh the same. This would push my BMI over the limit. But I’m not overweight; I’m under height.
how does he make these videos that highlight the text of the papers?
My bmi is 21 and i want to get to 20. It used to be 25 and even 27 at one point. But i changed my lifestyle and eating habits. Im almost eating completly vegan :)
When you shrink in size due to age (presumably because of intervertebral disc shrinkage), do you use your previous height to calculate bmi or the new shorter height?
@@ronaldhumphreys8776
Thank you for your reply. I realise what bmi stands for. But my body shape and weight are slim and unchanged from the past, yet if I use my shrunken height (7 cm less), the bmi is 25, with a waist size less than 80 cm (31.5”), a flat abdomen and slender legs and bottom. Hence my question. 😊
@@ronaldhumphreys8776 😊
Can you please explain how that unisex chart can be accurate? The differences between men and women are too great. Muscle mass, bone density, etc..
Same muscle mass question!
I believe more men will tend to be classified as overweight due to their generally higher muscle mass. I read it might be a difference of two points higher than it should be for men than women.
It’s also a problem for taller people because the formula is weight/(height*height) which can result in BMI being higher than it should be for very tall people. It’s also a problem for very muscular athletes.
BMI is probably better for quickly assessing large populations rather than individuals, because, like in the height situation, very tall people at or above 6’4” are a very small percentage of the population and wouldn’t skew the results that much.
Absolutely. Every man and every woman is different. BMI is ridiculous. As to waist ratio - I am not tiny but have a small waist. A woman without waist and much slimmer than me might have worse reading to me. Bone structure, breasts size etc etc has bearing on woman’s weight, like musculature in men.
@@annaal7480the data is mortality by bmi and waist circumference. Cry all you want but now we have definitive numbers, keeping at those weight and waist sizes ensures longest lifespan. I'm 5'10, 160, with a 30 inch waist. Based on these numbers my plan is to cut down to 155 by the end of the summer and hold in the 150 to 155 range for the rest of my days.
For all the questions of accuracy, this is population wide - so it accounts for idiosyncracies.
Let em know 👏
Are there any risks with an index of 16.8? Very thin bones, can't gain weight.
I’ve lost 80lbs going while food paint based. My bmi still says “obese” in don’t feel obese
What about those of us that have a 30 bmi at 18% body fat?
😂 Never mind, you got to it.
Doctor, maybe you can make one on a meal plan and I'll be good to go whatever you eat Thank you 👍
So at about 179 cm, how much has my all-cause mortality changed by going from 60 to 64 kilos?
Btw, although I doubt it would be significant, I wonder if you would look at the history of the weight of centenarians, even though I assume it would be next to impossible to reliably obtain. I imagine people tend to lose weight as they get older due to factors like forgetting to drink enough water.
People tend to "lose" weight as they get older? Not what I can observe
@@botzer8817 in the last few years of their life, and probably only people who live past the age of 90.
I'm underweight by at least 10 lbs according to this. 5'3 weight 101 lbs. In my 50's. I Need to put on weight but have zero apatite. Had some medical problems that caused me to have trouble eating so my tummy shrank. Now I can't seem to get back to normal weight of between 115 and 120 lbs. One normal plate of food I'll eat on for breakfast lunch and dinner simply because I get full too fast. I need a Solution. I need calorie rich foods in small portions that are so dense in nutrients that I can actually get a benefit from eating them. I haven't found that yet. Any ideas?
Nuts, avocados, smoothies. Snack as much as you can.
Do you have low energy or any other health concerns? If not, I honestly wouldn't worry about gaining weight. Your BMI is around 18, which is totally fine. BMI isn't perfect and doesn't account for differences in bone structure: some people have much thicker and larger bones than others. You might have thinner bones like me. I'm 5'4" and according to this video, 128 lbs would be a healthy weight for me and a 22 BMI. However, when I was in college I was 125 lbs and definitely getting chubby and had some excess stomach fat. Now I'm 110 lbs (19 BMI) and am in much better shape. During the pandemic I lost a lot of weight without trying because I wasn't eating out and eating mostly WFPB at home and was down to 102 lbs (17.5 BMI). According to BMI, this is definitely underweight, but I looked good (not too thin), had a lot of energy and was very physically fit - was able to go on long bike rides and hikes without any problem. Since then, I gained some weight, but that's honestly probably from eating out a lot more, which is almost always not very healthy food. So basically whatever weight you're at when you eat WFPB is probably your ideal weight, especially if you look good, have energy, and don't have excess fat on your stomach.
Now I'm so glad that I've lost weight and kept the majority of it off during the last few years. In the last few Marches, I was as light or lighter than I was in some past Septembers. Avoiding junk foods and restaurant foods works wonders at enhancing summer weight loss AND reducing winter weight gain. At the same time, I increased the quantity and variety of healthy superfoods in my diet.
I made a limited return to junk foods and restaurant foods last fall and this summer. (I'm trying to find the healthier and lower sodium restaurant meal options. Out of all the nutritional pitfalls of restaurant foods, the sodium bombs are hardest to avoid.) I know of one pizza place that I used to like but won't be ordering from again due to the side effects - food coma and persistent thirst that's hard to quench. I'm clearly more sensitive to oil and salt than I used to be, because it takes less of them to give me those side effects. A 50/50 eggnog/milk mixture, Jonny Pops ice cream bars, and chocolate Halloween candy are all still delicious but taste sweeter than they used to. I suspect that some of the sweet things I used to like are too sweet for me now.
My motivation for eating healthier wasn't my weight, my figure, my waistline, or my blood cholesterol. Instead, I was motivated by the pandemic. I need all the immune system support and anti-inflammatory support I can get. As I see it, the pandemic has multiplied the health risks of consuming unhealthy foods. Gone are the days when weight gain and higher blood cholesterol were the biggest risks.
The irony is that I'm now technically underweight for a substantial portion of the year. The dividing line between healthy and underweight is a BMI of 18.5. Under my new diet (my healthiest ever by far), I'm above that only during the months of January through May, and my BMI peaks at around 19 in the early spring. During the rest of the year, my BMI is below 18.5. I've actually been much skinnier than most people for my entire life. And for the vast majority of my life, I've been technically underweight. At my "heaviest" (in the early springs of 2020 and the previous few years), I had a BMI between 21 and 22.
This video allows me to feel that "thin privilege" that the pro-obesity brigade laments. I often find it difficult to find pants and belts that fit my 30-inch waist. I had to buy a special wristband for my Amazfit Band 5 smartwatch, because the original one was too loose for me. It feels like the stores and manufacturers are skinny-shaming me. I guess the message is that real men eat at Kentucky Fried Cholesterol and The Cheesecake Factory. I have about the same BMI as celebrities like Taylor Swift and Mandy Moore. (But I'm not as good-looking, as charming, or as graceful.) So I found it SO SHOCKING that people have fat-shamed these stunningly gorgeous celebrities. I'd pay money to watch a mud fight between the clothing designers who skinny-shame me and the people who fat-shamed Taylor Swift and Mandy Moore.
@@ronaldhumphreys8776 I'm part of the Goonies and Saved By The Bell generation, so I'm definitely over 40. Thanks for making me feel weird for having a flat stomach and for rolling back years of weight gain. All those people who still go to McDonald's never watched _Super Size Me_ . I was so grossed out when I first watched it back in 2004 that I've been avoiding McFood ever since.
Soo Im vegan and happy about it. But just listen to a Dr sharing a study about cognitive decline when aging when not eating meat ( animal protein) any data you can share?
So what's the optimal waist size for men? Did i miss it?
Enough so you can see your toe when you take a shower, and if you can't then call the toe truck.
I'm at 14.9 BMI not good at all
then eat a lot more fats, like nut butters.
How are you nowadays? ❤ Know I am here to help if you need to
@@annymus4502Hey nice of you to ask - It turns out I had a very severe case of hyperthyroidism (graves disease) damn near killed me - I ended up having a thyroid storm shortly after my comment above.
So I can I get taller? 😂
I enjoy how much thought DG puts into these videos and admire his mission to educate and support evidence based information to help others live healthy lives. However I was alarmed by the suggestion that striving to be at the bottom of one’s BMI range might actually be a most appropriate target. I have struggled with weight my entire life: fat kid with parents desperate to help me manage that struggle which led to serious binge eating disorder and my weight eventually ballooned to almost 400 pounds. Almost 25 years ago I had weight loss surgery and I have kept the weight off. But it has been work. And I only ever get into a healthy BMI range (not overweight) if I practically starve myself. My body is now different, structurally and mechanically as a result of years of super obesity during puberty and as a result of my surgery. How is that extra bone and skin and connective tissue that I have accounted for? Should a sum calculation become an obsession to achieve in order to be healthy? This really borders on guidance that nudges towards disordered eating and orthorexia.
Visceral fat levels is what really matters and is what BMI range is all about as well as Bodyfat percentage.... ignore everything else and solely focus on your visceral fat levels.... go get a DEXA SCAN or Hydrostatic water measuring test done or BOD POD test... dont rely on external calculations and measurments.
There are obese people with low levels of visceral fat.... Sumo wreslters for example... however these individuals are extremely physically active and eat a relatively healthy diet... a person who has a lot of muscle mass, that stays active and eats healthy... can get away with having a higher bodyfat percentage... to a certain extent... there lifestyle causes them to store mostly subcutaneous fat, and very little visceral fat.
With this being said they have to stay active and continue to eat clean.. they moment they become sedentary and stop working out and start eating more junk, they will loose muscle mass, become more insulin resistant and.. there bodies will convert the excess subcutaneous fat to visceral fat, putting them at risk for heart disease and diabetes.
I want to ask a question. My height is 185 cm and my weight is 90 kg. My bmi is 26.3. Do you think i can keep my weight?
If you have lots of lean muscles because of working out yes, otherwise its not advised
❤
Rampant obesity here in Philly. Even in children. Very sad.
Dr Greger pushed c19 jabs .... nuf said
75 year research
💕
bmi is difficult to take into account for those of us who weight train regularly
@ronaldhumphreys8776 all this information is so exciting & empowering..thank you
BMI is bs
Fatty cope
I'm honestly surprised Dr. Greger still supports the use of the BMI considering it's not a very accurate measure of health. According to its rules, an extremely fit person with a lot of muscle would be considered "obese." It wasn't even originally invented as a measure of health, it was designed to measure the "mean ideal" of populations as a scientific justification for eugenics by someone with no biological or medical training - the same man who invented phrenology. It was never meant to be a measure of individual health. He may as well do a video about the medical benefits of anthropometry for all the good BMI does us.
Exactly!
I’m pretty sure any sane doctor will use their best judgment when assessing a very muscular person who has an “overweight” BMI. There’s plenty of other tests that can be used to judge overall health.
The idea that he promotes is to use many measures to define if you are overweight. That is the main purpose of the video. Some of these are
1. Your own eyes (mirror)
2. BMI index
3. Body fat percentage
4. Waist circunference.
BMI is NOT a bad measure it is just incomplete and you must use multiple and common sense
I couldn't imagine getting my BMI THAT low. I think everyone would become seriously concerned with my health. There's gotta be different charts for men and women. We are too different
More of a sign of how skewed perception on bodyweight is in North America. Go to Europe or Asia and you'll see what a normal bodyweight is.
Are you saying other people's aesthetic approval of your appearance is a better indicator of health than scientific studies?
Ok i dont think he engaged with the ideas from fat activism very fairly here. A huge problem for fat people is that they go to the doctor and all their issues are put down to their fatness, even when that hasnt changed. They are treated as if they dont really know their own bodies and like their fatness is a choice, a problem they are too lazy/stupid to solve. Doctors treating them that way has actual consequences like misdiagnosis or very late diagnosis of things that would have been checked more carefully for a thin person. We live in such a fatphobic world that i dont think loads of fat people are wandering around saying "oh this 1 person 1 time said it was ok to be fat so i wont ever try to get healthier in any way" - most fat people are struggling with weight for other reasons - chronic illnesses, mental illness, poverty and lack of access to fresh foods, lack of time to work out, lack of energy to work out because some peoples lives are so difficult they do not have the energy to focus on health too. Im not saying everyone should be told theyre healthy all the time (although to be clear, thats not happening, fat people are constantly reminded that their body is 'wrong') but when people speak to a dr they deserve to be listened to as much as a skinny person would be. Some people justify fatphobia as somehow "helping peoples health", after all if we didnt treat these ppl so badly, how will they know to change? But shaming makes depression worse and depression and despair and shame are not active emotions and i gotta say, fat activists are completely right abt that. BMI can be a useful tool but it can be very reductive to imagine thats the only marker of what is or isnt "healthy". My 2 cents would be that i love dr gregor and i think he is extremely knowledgeable on studies and stats about nutrition, no question. But i think he could stand to balance that with more of an understanding of how some of his work, or even just his phraseology might play into fatphobic ideas which can be harmful on a society-wide scale, to the very people he really wants to help (and i do definitely beleive he wants to help and that this could be an incredible extension of his work)
Dr Greger has done a whole series of videos on discrimination of / bias against fat people by medical professionals. He mentions it in this video. I’d check them out!
@@cm1906 I haven't seen those I will have a look thank you :)
@@sorel7342 I just saw that he lists the links to the videos in the description section of this video.
Good points made here! Lots of environmental factors are at play in our society/culture
I promise you that there are a ton of fat people who are fat because they eat junk and choose not to eat better (usually because junk food is easy to access and binge on.) It's not entirely their fault or their choice in so much as yes, we in the West (and increasingly abroad) have a food system rigged against us and many people are born and raised in these food environments without realizing the deleterious effects of the standard Western diet until after decades. But it is their responsibility to address the problem. it does no one any good to pretend the vast majority of fat people are blameless. helpless victims. They aren't. Few people are actually incapable of eating more fruit, vegetables, or legumes nor so bad off that it would have no beneficial effect on them.
Also some of your reasons are plain bullshit. Just because impoverished people are generally fatter does not mean they're fat due to poverty. Eating healthier is generally cheaper (both in upfront costs and in terms of your long-term health bills.) And no one is fat because they can't or won't work out because you can't exercise away a poor diet anyway. I've worked in factories, and even for people's whose literal full time job was being on their feet and lifting heavy objects, there were quite a few overweight and obese individuals. Burning off 3,000 calories a day does you little good when you're eating 3,500 a day (which is not hard at all if you live off refined carbs, added sugars, and fat based sauces.)
The ironic thing is that a lot of "fat advocacy" really does the opposite because it's just enabling. If you truly cared about the plight of millions of fat people, you'd be telling them they do have a choice and there is hope.
(SIde note: Of course fat people still deserve respect and dignity. There's nothing "wrong" with it beyond that it'll likely make your life shorter, more painful, and less enjoyable. If someone wants to continue those lifestyle risks and accept the consequences, then it's no different than smoking or drinking alcohol: A thoroughly inadvisable lifestyle but whose practitioners still deserve basic compassion. But stop framing it so fatalistically. Choices *are* being made each and every day.)
At 5'11" I'm currently 225 lbs. When I was 180 lbs I was THIN. I can't imagine how skeletal and gaunt I would look at 158 or 143 💀
Strength training is your friend! You will look good and be thinner.
@@TyphoonbladefistI don't doubt it. I was just commenting on how the BMI scale ideal would put me at probably under 8% body fat. (With barely any muscle mass)
So a 6'-4" male should weigh 164lbs? I don't think so lol
That's the low end, 181 is the high end
@@DrumAndDrumber That's subjective. American?
@@jdw0426
OMG 6'-1" 160 is a stick figure...
This chart doesn't account for muscle. Must be for vegans
@@Fast_Eddie_ "Muscle" is always used as the excuse for BMI denialism. 1) You probably don't have much muscle at all if you're not in the gym all the time... it's often a delusion. 2) HUGE body builders who have high BMI's despite being all muscle also often have high blood pressure and other problems due to the size.
@@tiervexx
You either got it or you don't 😂
Henry Kissinger is 100 and looks quite overweight.
And he had bypass surgery 50 years ago so it must ben working pretty good.
You lost me at "unisex chart." Clearly you jest.
*Being a patriotic American is "far-right?"
Ugh, don't ruin your channel for me, doc...
Dr. G going anti-woke! Go ahead, doc!
As a liberal, as a person of color, AND as someone who has always been much thinner than average, the idea that consuming a healthy diet is anti-woke just does not compute for me. Exactly what's woke about the junk food industry? What's woke about high fructose corn syrup, deep-fried vegetable seed oils, the infamous Heart Attack Grill, McDonald's, Burger King, and Kentucky Fried Cholesterol? What's so anti-woke about broccoli, kale, oat bran, carrots, celery, kimchi, natto, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and other healthy foods? When Michelle Obama launched her Let's Move campaign, Sarah Palin and the Tea Partiers mocked her and insisted that any attempt to improve the average American's diet was the tyranny of the nanny state at work.
For the thousand time: Woke still meana being alert to injustice. Even you are woke to a degree and our society is aswell. Dr. Gregers mission is woke aswell. Veganism is woke. Why do you fall for right wing narratives?
2:50
Dr. Hotez aint *rite wang*
I have read that the optimal BMI for people over age 65 is 25 - 35, depending on gender. Here's a link: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8984168/
So I bought Carbon, an inexpensive food tracking app used by body builders which also has a facebook page. Reading the facebook entries is telling and may explain why body builders have short lives. Most have no clue that “macros” are NOT nutrients, even though the app has a respectful nutrient tracking system. They also seem clueless about using high fiber veggies to fill out meager portions of “protein”, which appears to be mostly refined protein powders. The app suits them because it hones in on protein as the “key” to building muscle and sets the protein level at 2 to 3 times that recommended by WHO . They seem not to understand that their kidneys may eventually, sooner than later, complain about this daily assault. Those who are using the app for weight loss are buying into the protein hype prevalent on the facebook page.
App example: I am in my low 70s. The app takes into consideration that it will be very difficult for me to lose weight and retain muscle mass if I exceed more than 1 lb loss/week. That’s good. Means it will take a year for me to reach my weight goal. However, I am instructed to consume 125 grams of protein a DAY! I happen to have very good kidneys for my age and I would like to keep them that way. No way am I going to consume that much. As a flexitarian ( can of sardines twice a week plus plants), I actually have trouble keeping my daily protein consumption at or below 60 grams as WHO and nutritionfacts.org would have it. I keep one eye on the app and the other on Greger’s Daily Dozen to stay on track. Anyway, if the facebook page is any indicator of the average body builder out there, it is obvious to me that steroids are not required for a lengthy suicide; their diets alone would do it.
Having a unisex BMI chart seems incredibly fishy given the obvious differences between male and female bodies. The chart in the video seems reasonable for women: I'm sure most NFL cheerleaders or Playboy Playmates would have the "optimal" BMI, or even a little lower. But if you're a man with the "optimal" BMI, you look like a stickman. Maybe this is healthy for men, but it's not aesthetically pleasing and a man with this BMI would have trouble doing a job requiring any muscle. (Incidentally, I'm a man with a BMI of 22.2, and so my comment is hardly self-serving.)
Fatty cope