Hi Docs. Hope this is the right forum for this. I’ve been learning a lot from your podcast discussion of BMI, and the suggestion to reduce BMI as it correlates well with health. I got a DEXA scan, and I’m 25.9% body fat, and my A/G ratio is 1.37. 0.00 is ideal. I don’t trust Dr. Google anymore, but the suggestions I get from various websites like Mayo, WebMD etc to lower visceral fat is to increase muscle mass (I currently deadlift, squat, press, bench). I can see how that would change the ratios and reduce my BMI, but I would still have the same amount of visceral fat around my organs. Does changing the ratio make sense in terms of health or is there some other way to move forward? Thanks in advance.
Howdy,
Thanks for the post. I’m not sure what A/G ratio is in the context of body composition and I cannot comment on the distribution of your body fat based on the percentage alone. Still, I do think that a body fat north of 20% on a man likely is high, particularly if their waist circumference is > 37". Without weight loss, your BMI may change. I would be looking for a BMI < 30 and waist circumference in the 33-35" range max for most men. I realize this is not possible for many men, unfortunately.
-Jordan
Yes, I agree that VAT levels should ideally be low. I have not seen good data showing the A/G ratio is validated for predicting risk from body fat distribution over waist circumference.
Doc, do you mean purely from an un 1willingness to change lifestyle/environment, or an inability to without medical intervention ala the obesity podcast?
Accidentally hit “Post Reply” before refining, please delete last.
Doc, could you clarify what you mean by “not possible”? I assume you mean some combo of genetics interacting with environment and deciding against or lacking access to medical intervention (things you covered in the obesity podcast), but just want to make sure I’m not missing any components.
Rohann, I’m sure there are lots of things you’d like to do/prefer to do, but can’t due to a variety of factors having nothing to do with willpower. Changing human behavior, particularly that which is sustained long term, is complicated.
As we’ve discussed a number of times, there are biological, psychological, sociocultural components at play here- many of which are beyond an individual’s control- or any available medication, intervention, etc.
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That was a poorly conceived question, but you answered the question that followed anyhow :). But yes, that makes sense regardless. I’d like to believe it was possible for most, but psychological and sociocultural factors are profoundly and frustratingly strong in even getting someone to consider they would be better off with behaviour change that would lend obvious benefits, at least before a crisis of health occurs far too late in their life.
I agree, behavior change can be very difficult for many and nearly impossible for some.