Every once in a while, a medical analysis puts its finger on the problem. A report in the Annals of Internal Medicine in January analyzed more than 40 years of food and fitness data from Framingham, Massachusetts. This is the best available epidemilogic information.
The verdict? Being overweight increases your likelihood of death as much as smoking. And doubles it if you do smoke.
1. Life Expectancy Matters: “Large decreases in life expectancy were associated with overweight and obesity. Forty-year-old female nonsmokers lost 3.3 years and 40-year-old male nonsmokers lost 3.1 years of life expectancy because of overweight. Forty-year-old female nonsmokers lost 7.1 years and 40-year-old male nonsmokers lost 5.8 years because of obesity.”
What Should You Do Differently?
Find out what’s in your food. Plan well. Make a plan. Get help in sticking to it.
Take eating out, for example.
Here, adapted from the Tufts University Nutrition Notes, are the data for the sandwiches I’m displaying for the Department of Surgery and the Department of Internal Medicine in Grand Rounds Presentations this month, in Santa Barbara: the results might surprise you:
Fresh City Chicken Teriyaki Wrap 968kcal 33gfat
Baja Fresh Ensalada Chicken 857k 57g
Au Bon Pain Chicken Caesar Wrap 640k 26g
Panera Smoked Ham & Swiss 630cal 49g
McDonald’s Chicken Flatbread 470cal17g
McDonald’s Chef Salad w/Ranch320c26g
Get the details. Learn more on our site–see the Food Facts for more. We also have some of the best books in our Store, and of course, the RealAge Diet. Check it out.