When it comes to fat it’s all about location, location, location!

Many of us don’t realize that fat is metabolically active, producing proteins and chemicals. Triglycerides are a form of stored fat in the body. They consist of three chains of fat linked together, and can be metabolized to yield energy. It’s important where in the body we store fat. Some places are better than others, which is where apples and pears comes in to play.

If we are going to accumulate fat, we want to store it on our hips, thighs and buttocks. WHAT?!

I know, I hear all you ladies that are probably in complete disagreement with this, but even though we may not like the appearance of fat on our hips, thighs and buttocks, it is healthier to store it there!

Why? When we store fat in our mid-section or ambdomen, the fat is literally suffocating our organs. The fat that covers our organs is more metabolically active. When fat builds up in certain cells such as in your muscle, your liver, your pancreas, it can be very dangerous. The fat interferes with the use of glucose and with signaling pathways. That’s why it’s important to measure our fat and know where we are carrying it.

Apple or Pear?
Our waist to hip ratio is a very important number that we all should know. It’s more accurate than waist or BMI alone. Waist/Hip ratio can be calculated very simply. Using a tape measure, record your waist measurement (measure just above your belly button) and then your hip measurement (position tape around the thickest part of your rear end). Do the following calculation: waist /hip = waist to hip ratio.

For women, anything above 0.8 is considered apple shape. Anything below this number is considered pear. The higher the number, the more at risk we are of developing a number of weight related symptoms and diseases, such as heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, stoke and even cancer. For men, anything above 0.9 is considered apple shape. The difference being that for men there is a higher risk of stroke as compared to women. According to the Berkeley Science Review, people who carry fat on their buttocks and thighs, rarely display these symptoms. But things don’t end there, “X-ray imaging reveals that people with apple body types may carry fat either deep inside their abdominal cavity or just underneath their skin. While people in the former category show symptoms linked to high heart attack risk, apple body types carrying fat just beneath their skin don’t,” says Sherry Seethaler of the Berkeley Science Review.

By  educating ourselves about our body’s shape and size, we can help decrease our risk of developing many life-threatening diseases. Find out if you are an apple or a pear today!