Waist Size Is More Important Than You Think

In this day and age we all walk around with a handheld computer in our hands that we utilize to self diagnose ourselves with help from “the google box”. However if you really want to get serious about self-diagnosing there are four pieces of data you absolutely want to know and look at, according to Dr. Robert Lustig, 2021. These include your family history, your vital signs, your waist circumference, and a standard fasting lab panel. I will note to make sure that the lab work will have your A1C number, your fasting insulin, and your fasting glucose.

Your family history is extremely important because this will highlight what you need to focus on preventing. The same way we cannot make an omelet without eggs you cannot have blue eyes without the correct genetic code but luckily the diseases your family members could have or have had do not 100% determine your disease outcome. The reason is that for chronic disease genes only determine about 15% of your risk while your environment/lifestyle determines the other 85% of your risk. And while our parents and grandparents environment has determination in our epigenetics we still have 85% control of our current risk. Addressing this large portion of what we can control can and makes the difference between suffering from familial chronic diseases or not.

“In general, your vital signs are always normal or you wouldn’t be walking around or reading this book.” (Dr. Lusting, 2021 p. 140 Metabolical) I laughed as I read this because well, it’s true. Many times we think of our vital signs as major indicators of health but in all reality if your vitals are “bad” then you wouldn’t be reading this either. Keep in mind the normal values for blood pressure (BP) & heart rate are highly dependent and vary due to age, sex, race, BMI, pregnancy, exercise, diet, etc. A reduction of salt in processed foods in the UK resulted in a decline of strokes which then created an association of hypertension -high blood pressure- and a high salt diet. According to Dr. Lustig, 2021, this reduction in salt would be beneficial for about 20% of the population. However, the bigger issue is that insulin resistance creates hyperinsulinemia-where you are unable to get rid of salt- which low and behold increases your BP. Yet again demonstrating that sugar or the inability to deal with sugar is the cause of the majority of HBP cases, not salt.

This next piece of data might be my favorite, waist circumference. The reason why I like this one the most is because this is accessible to everyone. The circumference of your waist is the clearest and most solid clue to suffering from the following root causes for disease: leaky-gut (inflammation), unhealthy mitochondrial function, and insulin resistance. That’s it folks, so simple. If you are a female with a waist circumference larger than 35 inches or a male with a waist circumference larger than 40 inches you in fact suffer from all of those root causes and you suffer from chronic disease(s). As it stands in our population the waist circumference is increasing at a larger rate than BMI. You can also measure your waist to hip ratio. For females it should be less than 0.75 and for men less than 0.85.

The final piece of the puzzle is the fasting lab tests. There is so much you can look at when talking about lab work but today I will focus on just a few and I will try to keep it to things you likely had tested on your last lab work. When looking at cholesterol, focus on your triglycerides to HDL ratio. It should be 1 or smaller. While you’re looking at your HDL make sure that it is over 60. People with HDL numbers higher than 60 demonstrate good cardiovascular health and the other fractions/information almost do not matter. That LDL number should be less than 100 and if it is between 100 and 300 then look at that triglyceride to HDL ratio. A clear indication of metabolic dysfunction is if your triglycerides are above 150. The last thing you can look at is your A1C. This number demonstrates your control of glucose within the previous 3 months. You want this number to be lower than 5.5, the higher the number the closer you are to 6.5 (or higher) the more clear diabetic you are.

While we all enjoy the butloads of information we get from our handheld computers and the infamous “google box” it is always advisable to address health issue with the help of doctors. Whatever doctor you decide to work with, whether it be traditional medicine or functional medicine doctors, the idea that you can understand your information is key to get the care you want in order to achieve the results you need.

“Knowledge is key when it comes to your gut health. Take the time to understand these pieces of data in order to understand treatment options and ask the appropriate questions that will lead you back to good health. “ -Erika Smith

References: 1. Lustig, R., 2021. Metabolical. [S.I.]: Harper Wave. 2. Gundry, S. and Buehl, O., N.D. The plant paradox.