No More Empty Fortune Cookies!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Are you an apple or a pear?

I was reading some articles today about some research that scientist have been doing on how fat stores in our bodies. Basically, they have found that the fat in your butt and hips is "good" fat, it helps fight heart disease,lowers risk of increased weight gain, and other benefits. While, as we've known for some time, belly fat is bad, it contributes to heart disease and cancer, it is associated with higher rates of obesity and diabetes. The other interesting thing I read was that they are finding, at least in lab animals, that certain chemicals found in the lining of microwave popcorn, boat paint,plastic food wrappers, and as fungicide for crops are causing or contributing to obesity. The wacky thing that happens, in the short version, is that when the pregnant mom is exposed to these chemicals, even in tiny amounts, while the fetus is developing, it causes a disturbace of the endocrine system in the fetus, which is the system that helps us to maintain our metabolism. Our metabolism, if you don't know plays a major role in our energy level and subsequently, our weight. They see that the offspring of these exposed animals are small at birth, but end up gaining signifigant weight later, and are more likely to become obese, even though they eat and exercise the same amount as unexposed offspring of unexposed mothers.
Very interesting.

Something else I picked up on... why is it that when they talk about body types, skinny body types get terms like "hourglass", and "athletic" while fat body types get defined by food-terms like "apple" and "pear". That's just an unnecessary jab, if you ask me.

6 cookies cracked:

gary rith said...

Kiwi? Star fruit? Mango? Bowl full of cherries? Banana? Kiwi sliced in little coin shaped pieces? How about apple sauce?

Karen said...

I saw that on Good Morning America during the week. Made me happy that my fat ass is doing me some good. :)

Fortune Cookies said...

gr- apple sauce? lol that's about what it feels like after a night of partying eh? lol
karen- precisely what I was thinking- the junk in my trunk serves a purpose!

Chatty said...

uh. I guess I'm really in trouble. From the description, I seem to be both and apple AND a pear. I hope I don't drop dead before I finish this comment...; )

Tink said...

I'm more of a fruit bowl. A melon on top, followed by two peaches, with two larger melons that have probably seen better days on the bottom.

Anonymous said...

But as they say in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" ...
We're pretty much all fruit!

So whatever happened to "An apple a day keeps the doctor away?"
I'm an apple, can you tell?