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From 1999-2000, an estimated 30.5% of Americans were obese. By 2017-2018, that number had risen to 42.5%, costing those who are obese roughly $1,429 more in healthcare expenses than people of a normal weight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since obesity is on the rise and related to so many negative health effects, it's important that doctors can easily define obesity in order to help patients take control of their health.

"We want to come up with a universal way of defining obesity, because different cultures define it differently," says Mir Ali, MD, bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center. "So the thing we have that isn't the most accurate, but at least it's a common reference point, is the body mass index (BMI)."

BMI is the most standard way for doctors and patients to determine if someone is overweight or obese. It's calculated with a formula that takes into account your height and weight and there are many online BMI calculators you can use to easily calculate your own BMI. Here's what you need to know about BMI, it's role in determining obesity, and why it's not always the best tool.

The three tiers of obesity

According to the CDC, a BMI of 25.0 to 29.9 is considered overweight, and a BMI of 30 or above is obese. Additionally, there are three subcategories, or classes, of obesity based on BMI. According to the CDC, Class 1 is a BMI of 30 to 35, Class 2 is a BMI of 35 to 40, and Class 3 is a BMI of 40 or higher.

"Someone with a BMI of 40 has a two to three times greater risk of developing obesity related diseases [than someone with a healthy BMI]," says Ali, adding that these classes are also important to help doctors decide what kind of treatment is necessary.

If you have a BMI greater than 40, then you could qualify for bariatric surgery. Whereas, if you have a BMI between 30 and 40 and have struggled to lose weight through diet and exercise, your doctor may prescribe a diet pill to aid weight loss.

However, BMI is not a be all end all to measure obesity. For example, a high BMI doesn't always mean obesity. "The BMI calculation doesn't take into account anybody's body composition, and that can affect how healthy they are. A 300-pound bodybuilder with 5% body fat [may be] healthy, but if you plug him into the BMI formula, he [will] come out obese," says Ali.

Other ways to measure obesity

Aside from BMI, there are a few other more accurate ways to measure obesity and the risk of obesity-related disease:

While this one is very accurate, Ali says it isn't readily available to the general public, and it's expensive. The test usually isn't offered at typical X-Ray/imaging centers, and most people don't actually require this precise level of accuracy to make treatment choices.

Obesity and fitness

Being obese does not automatically mean you are unhealthy. The importance of exercise in obese people has been extensively researched.

For example, a study published in BMC Obesity in 2018, showed that somebody who is severely obese but very active can be as healthy as someone who is moderately obese and does not exercise very much. Additionally, a 2017 study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology concluded that obese people who regularly worked out had less risk of cardiovascular disease than obese people who were inactive.

"The less active you are as an obese person, the more likely you'll be to develop health issues," says Ali. "Activity helps keep your cardiovascular health strong, helps to reduce your risk of degenerative changes in the joints, and other health issues, so activity is important."

Fitness is so important for health because it helps prevent the build-up of visceral fat, which lies beneath the abdominal muscles surrounding vital organs like the liver, intestines, and stomach. Visceral fat is one of the biggest risk factors in obese people for developing health problems.

If you are obese or think you may be obese, it's important to keep active and eat healthily to avoid the complications that can be caused by obesity. Speak to your doctor or an obesity specialist to get on the right track.

Related video: Drink up! Coffee could be the secret to burning fat and fighting obesity [via Buzz60]

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Product12th March 202012th March 2020

Komatsu has unveiled the new WA900?8 wheeled loader. Designed for maximum operating comfort, the machine offers many customer advantages and is said to offer not only the highest productivity of any wheeled loader in its class, but also up to 17% higher fuel efficiency.

With a 116tonne operating weight, the WA900?8 allows for 23.2tonne rated load capacity in a standard boom configuration and for 20.5tonne rated load capacity in high lift boom configuration.

Jo Monsieur, group manager for Large Machines at Komatsu Europe, said: Komatsu designed the WA900?8 wheeled loader with one major goal in mind: to provide customers with an ultimate tool to let them safely and comfortably achieve lowest cost?per?tonne production.

Not only does this new machine include an efficient engine and offer the highest rated load, but its new and super comfortable cabin is the largest ever on a Komatsu wheeled loader.

The WA900?8 meets the latest EU Stage V emission regulations with its Komatsu?designed, developed and manufactured engine and aftertreatment systems.

Komatsu says the models customers will be competitive in tenders and keep the machine working for years thanks to its two diesel particulate filters, two variable geometry turbos, a heavy-duty and cooled exhaust gas recirculation system, new engine control modules, a closed crankcase ventilation system, and lack of AdBlue requirement.

As standard, Komatsu offers up to 14.5m buckets that have a redesigned spill guard, increased radius and floor angle and provide better penetration and higher fill factors to boost productivity and income. Their ultra?strong teeth and enlarged sweeper wings increase uptime and reduce tyre damage, reducing maintenance costs.

A standard high-accuracy payload meter enables work productivity and efficiency to be tracked within 1.5% accuracy, helping avoid dump truck overloads.

The WA900-8s modulation clutch system gives operators precise control of rim pull, for fast work equipment speeds and a smooth approach for truck loading. Its variable traction control system optimises rim pull on all ground conditions, minimising tyre slippage and lowers maintenance costs.

SmartLoader Logic, Komatsus fully automatic on-board engine control, is said to yield precise torque for each work phase, based on the application. By automatically switching between Economy and Power modes it considerably reduces fuel usage, with no loss of productivity.

The new generation WA900?8 wheeled loaders hydraulics are improved with a CLSS hydraulic system that delivers power on demand via the variable displacement piston pumps. It keeps the hydraulic oil cool and increases both work speed and fuel economy. Fuel savings are further realised through the machines auto idle shutdown system and by ECO guidance tips on the in? cab monitor.

Combined with the comprehensive Komatsu CARE support package, the WA900?8 is said to offer competitive customer value.

This article first appeared on our Daily News website.

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Komatsu launches the WA900?8 wheeled loader - Aggregate Research

It was themost popular weight loss search term in 2019 and traces its roots back to an ancient ritual.Intermittentfasting is seeing a resurgence in its popularity and is now one of the most effective methods of weight loss and improving ones health.

What isintermittent fasting?

It is a pattern of eating where you alternate between periods of eating and fasting. It is not to be confused with a diet, since it doesnt specify which foods to eat but rather when to eat them.

Three methods ofintermittentfasting are alternate-day fasting, periodic fasting, and daily time-restricted feeding.

These are some popular methods of doing this:

The twice-a-week method 5:2

You cap your calories at 500-600 for two non-consecutive days a week. During the other five days of the week, you maintain a healthy and normal diet.

Alternate day fasting

Involves modified fasting every other day. For example, limit your calories on fasting days to 500 (or lesser) and on non-fasting days, opt for your regular, healthy diet.

Time-restricted eating

One sets fasting and eating windows in this method. For example, if you follow the16/8 method, youfast for 16 hours in between meals and can eat for only eight hours of the day. You also skip breakfast in this one. Similarly, there is also a14/10 method.

Since most people already fast while they sleep, this method is popular.

24-hour fasting

Also called theeat, stop, eat method, it involves fasting completely for a full 24 hours. Often times, its only done once or twice a week.

Benefits ofintermittentfasting

There is nothing new about the benefits of fasting, which has beenpractised throughout human history. However, this habit was disregarded because of its religious connections.

Now many people are now re-discovering this dietary intervention and have reported benefits like weight loss,lowering insulin, increasing growth hormone levels and cellular repair, all of which have been backed by studies and research.

Recently, researchers from the University of Sydney also discovered howintermittentfasting influences key metabolic pathways in the liver.

Intermittentfasting (IF) is currently one of the worlds most popular fitness trends. If done correctly, people using it lose weight, improve overall health (including the brain) and simplify their lifestyles. Common IF involves 16-hour fasting daily or a 24-hour fasting twice weekly. Various studies have proven that this method of fasting helps in the prevention of certain diseases such as type 2 diabetes, reduces cardiac diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and even cancers, saysDr S Manohar, director, internal medicine, Sakra World Hospital.

Lost weight

Rosemary Dean started IF two years back, after her son, who was a health buff, became quite lean and built muscle through the process.

The most appealing part of this to me is that I dont have to skip any kind of food group which Im completely against. I like my rice and ghee and bacon and I didnt have to give up any of those, unlike in a normal diet, says the housewife, who is also a Thyroid patient.

Rosemary says she lost 10 kg within threemonths, without doing any extra exercise other than housework.

I did not go to the gym or go for walks but the results were amazing. And I felt a change as far as my energy levels were concerned too. I did not feel the need to sleep in the afternoon, could get upearlier in the morning, had a lot more energy and even ran a marathon for the first time, a year after I started IF.

Normally, Im not somebody whos keen on breakfast so I usually start my meal only by one oclock, which is my lunch and then around5-6 pm, I would eat another meal and that would be it. Sofasting for eight hours was very easy for me, she adds.

Caleb David, managing director, Davlekha Perez Advisory India Pvt Ltd, startedintermittentfasting tokickstart his weight loss journey and reduce his blood sugar. His friend, who is a trainer, suggested IF to him.

I have breakfast during 8 8. 30 am and dinner during the same time period at night. During the 12 hours in between,I could have two to three cups of black tea or coffee without sugar. Or I canhave a banana or an apple or one pomegranate. If I still feel hungry, I can have dried fruits like 5-6 almonds and cashews, he says.

He has just started this and says that it takes some time to get used to, especially for someone like him who is used to having three full meals a day.

When asked what can one drink during the fasting window, Rosemary says one cant have juice but lime water with salt is a good option.

Drink as much water as you want. Some people say it is okay to have buttermilk but the actual process doesnt call for that.And you can have as much black coffee, tea and green tea as you want as long as you dont add the honey or sugar to it, she explains.

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A guide to intermittent fasting - Deccan Herald

AMI The 7 Deadly Sins of Dieting

The root of weight loss is eating less calories than you burn in a day, choosing the right foods, and exercising to stay healthy.

That said, those arent the only steps you can take to optimize your weight-loss regimen. According to new research, the timing of your meals also determines the way those calories are used by the body, and eating breakfast may work in your favor if youre trying to target fat. It all comes down to the bodys circadian rhythm, which has to do with a lot more than just when you get sleepy.

Circadian rhythms are any physical, mental, or behavioral changes that follow a daily cycle, according to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. In this particular study, researchers wanted to see how a persons metabolism processes food at different points in the day and night.

They monitored the metabolisms of their subjects in whole-room respiratory chambers in two separate 56-hour sessions. In both sessions, the participants were given three meals a day, with lunch and dinner served at 12:30 p.m. and 5:54 p.m., respectively. In one of the sessions, they were given breakfast at 8:00 a.m., while the other provided them with a nutritionally equivalent meal at 10:00 p.m. instead. The overnight fast was the same for both sessions.

The researchers were surprised to find that although the total daily energy spent and nutrition was the same in both sessions, switching from breakfast to a late-night snack changed the way the body used carbohydrates and fat for fuel. When subjects ate right before going to bed, they burned less fat in a 24-hour period than when they ate breakfast and skipped the nighttime snack.

So is breakfast the most important meal of the day? We cant say for sure, but the results of this study suggest that you should opt for breakfast instead of getting your calories in right before bed.

Video: Could intermittent fasting help you live longer? (Provided by Buzz60)

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CNN Is breakfast still the most important meal of the day? We used to know the answer to that question, right?

And now we're not so sure.

As a registered dietitian, I always recommend starting the day with a healthy breakfast. And during the past 20 years, I've never met a nutritionist who has suggested skipping it. The morning meal can boost energy, control cravings and weight, and improve focus and performance.

When planned well, breakfast can also add important nutrients to your diet, such as protein, healthy fats and calcium, explained Cordialis Msora-Kasago, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

But popular intermittent fasting regimens often banish breakfast in an effort to improve health and lose weight. In a recent New York Times article, Mark Mattson, a neuroscientist at the National Institute on Aging and at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, explained that most people trying to lose weight should strive for 16 calorie-free hours, and that "the easiest way to do this is to stop eating by 8 p.m., skip breakfast the next morning and then eat again at noon the next day."

Mattson, who for the past 30 years has consumed all of his 2,000 calories between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m, recently told me that once your body adapts to skipping breakfast, you don't get the negative side effects of doing so.

But there is a way that you can have your breakfast and your fast, too.

Complicating matters in the breakfast debate is that current research on breakfast and weight control is conflicting. For example, a recent BMJ review that analyzed 13 studies on the meal concluded that "the addition of breakfast might not be a good strategy for weight loss."

The BMJ study used many small and extremely short-term studies, and was skewed toward those including a very poor quality breakfast, explained Tamara Duker Freuman, a New York City-based registered dietitian who closely follows the research literature on meal timing in terms of disease risk.

"If the intent was to settle the breakfast debate once and for all, this was not the study selection or design that was going to do it."

What's more, these findings are a stark contrast from other research, which suggests that when you front-load your calories by eating a big breakfast and a smaller dinner, you have a much better chance of shedding pounds and you are likely to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, too.

That's because eating most of our calories earlier in the day is more in sync with our bodies' circadian rhythms, which influence metabolism and decrease the risk of weight gain, compared to eating more calories later in the day. Circadian rhythms may also help explain why breakfast skipping is associated with increased risk of weight gain even among those who consume comparable amounts of calories in a day.

Indeed, a small recent study examined differences in diet-induced thermogenesis or calories expended as the result of processing and storing food among people consuming larger breakfasts and smaller dinners versus smaller breakfasts and larger dinners. What it found was consistent with these earlier findings: Participants who ate a big breakfast rather than a large dinner both with identical calories had 2.5 times greater calorie-burning benefits compared to when they swapped their meal pattern around. Blood sugar and insulin levels were diminished after breakfast compared to dinner as well.

"What we've seen from very large cohort studies conducted over years and even decades is that people who eat breakfast are more likely to have lower BMIs and a variety of better metabolic health outcomes particularly related to reduced risk of type 2 diabetes" and cardiovascular disease, Freuman said.

Just this week, a meta-analysis published in Clinical Nutrition concluded that eating breakfast regularly may promote cardiovascular health and decrease all-cause mortality while skipping the morning meal increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and death.

But this doesn't mean that every breakfast skipper is destined to gain weight or develop heart disease or type 2 diabetes, nor does it mean that a particular individual who skips breakfast and is perfectly healthy must start eating breakfast. "I think the takeaway is that if you are a breakfast skipper who struggles with blood sugar, triglycerides or cholesterol, or weight despite consuming a reasonably healthy diet it may be worth considering establishing a daily, healthy breakfast habit and pulling back a bit on the nighttime intake in tandem," Freuman said.

Following a daily fasting regimen that restricts eating during a certain time window doesn't have to mean eliminating breakfast. For example, you can stop eating at 7 p.m. and not eat again until at least 7 a.m. the next morning, and you will still get the benefits of a 12-hour fast while fueling your mind and body with important nutrients to start the day, Msora-Kasago explained.

Eating earlier will mean eating in sync with your circadian rhythms, which is favorable for weight control, and at the same time you will avoid the trap of nighttime nibbling, where calories can pile up without you even realizing it.

Should you eat or skip breakfast before exercising? Some research has revealed that you can burn more fat if you exercise on an empty stomach.

But depending on your needs, it may not be a wise decision to do so. "Some people are able to work out in the fasted state and not feel ill effects, but others may feel weak, dizzy or unable to complete their workout," Msora-Kasago said.

"I always advise my clients to eat before exercising," said Wendy Sterling, a board-certified sports dietitian. "I work with athletes, and my job is to help them gain a competitive advantage by maximizing every workout.

"Skipping breakfast could mean they might be working out on a 14-hour fast, depending on when they ate last. Performance suffers greatly, and they look sluggish and tired," said Sterling, who is the team nutritionist for the Oakland A's.

When choosing a breakfast, look for a meal that includes protein, which will promote satiety and decrease daytime snacking, Msora-Kasago said.

A healthy breakfast should also include whole grains, healthy fats, a fruit or vegetable, and a calcium-rich food or beverage. Msora-Kasago recommends a veggie egg scramble with cheese and avocado on whole-grain toast; hummus on a whole-grain bagel with tomatoes and cucumbers and low-fat milk; and oatmeal with some almonds and low-fat milk and berries.

Keep in mind, if you tend to wake up and not feel hungry, you might be eating too much during the evening. Simply cutting back on nighttime snacking may give you more of an appetite for breakfast.

Or, if you're not up for a full meal in the morning, you can also try eating smaller portions of what you would normally eat, or pick something quick and easy like a small handful of nuts with dried fruit to give your body something to get your day started, Msora-Kasago added.

Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?

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Gluten-free. Paleo. Intermittent fasting. Whole30. Keto. DASH. The list of trendy diets and their various rules and restrictions goes on and on. But the latest once-niche eating plan to edge into the mainstream is carb cycling. Heres how the practice of carb cycling stacks up with other buzzy diets, and if (or how) it can improve your running performance.

There is no formal definition for carb cycling, but the gist of this eating plan is that you alter your carbohydrate intake throughout the week, month, or year. There can be high-carb, medium-carb, and low-carb days cycled during a period of time. Figuring out how many grams of carbs to eat each day is an individual choice, but as a general guideline, high-carbohydrate days entail getting about 60 percent of calories from carbs (or roughly 300 grams of carbs for a 2,000-calorie diet). Then on low-carbohydrate days, this can drop like an anvil to 5 to 10 percent of calories. Thus, a medium-carb day would be about 40 percent of calories from carbs, but some just stick to a low- and high-carb cycles to simplify things (there is only so much number-crunching people are willing to do).

For athletes, carb cycling generally revolves around a persons training schedule. Your diet is tweaked based on day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month ebbs and flows in training intensity and volume. On days when training is more intense, you consume more carbohydrates, whereas low-carb days occur when training is light. Some runners will taper down their carb intake during reduced-mileage periods like the off-season and then ramp up again when its time to pound out more miles.

Your body may not need as many carbohydrate calories during periods of lower volume training since you arent placing as much stress on it, but if you continue to load up on the same number of carbs as you do during periods of large training volumes, you may see your weight creep up. This could be due to two reasons: excess carbohydrates in the body that arent used for energy get stored as fat, but also, carbohydrates cling to water, so in some cases, this weight is simply water weight.

Also, many athletes consider themselves weekend warriors, meaning larger training loads take place on weekends with more downtime during the week. Periodizing your carbohydrate intake suggests you eat in a way to support these fluctuations. So you may not eat the same stack of pancakes on Tuesday morning as you do on Saturday morning when youre getting ready to do (or just got back form) a long run instead of sitting at your desk all day.

[Build your personalized and adaptive training plan for FREE with Runcoach.]

So why bother? The rationale behind carb cycling is that when your body receives limited carbs, it relies on fat as the primary fuel source, which can be helpful for weight control and fat loss and also helps your body be more sensitive to insulin to better utilize carbs when they are reintroduced. To that latter point, carb-cycling athletes believe that being strategic about how many carbohydrates are eaten at certain times can help you utilize carbohydrates (your bodys preferred fuel for higher-intensity exercise) more efficiently to power workouts and get closer to nailing a PR.

Many people find carb cyclings flexible see-sawing between periods of different carbohydrate intake less onerous than sustaining longer periods of low-carb dieting like what is required on the Keto diet. Its easier to march through a couple of low-carb days if you know that prerun bowl of pasta is on the horizon. Replenishing your bodys depleted glucose stores from carbohydrates (known as refeeding) can alleviate some of the loathed side-effects of low-carb eating such as brain fog and lethargy, making carb cycling a good middle ground.

But there are few downsides to carb cycling, too. The cycling period, as well as the amount and the type of carbohydrate is not defined, so you have to play around with this diet before figuring out what works best for your goals. The fact that it takes a lot of planning and tracking to do successfully means the diet can be mentally draining. And for some, obsessing about counting calories and macros can spiral into an unhealthy relationship with food.

Research on carb cycling for weight loss and endurance performance is pretty scant, and theres not a lot of data on the long-term benefits or drawbacks of this dieting approach. In other words, what you hear on social media or in training circles is likely anecdotal.

With that said, there is one version of carb cycling that has some research muscle behind itthe sleep low method. This method entails performing a bout of high-intensity exercise to deplete your muscles carbohydrate (glycogen) stores and greatly limit carbohydrate intake afterward. Then, you perform a morning training session in a fasted state. Research suggests that training in this way with low-carb stores can amplify certain metabolic adaptations from endurance training and perhaps bolster overall performance. But before you jump to try this, know that this dieting method needs to be implemented very carefully. Being carb-depleted only works when training is performed at lower intensities, during which fat is the primary fuel source to power the engine.

At high intensities, muscles require carbohydrates to meet energy needs. So if you lace up for a spirited morning workout (anything above 75 percent max intensity) after eschewing carbs for several hours, youll likely hit the wall fast, which in turn diminishes overall calorie burn and training benefits. Instead, you want to periodize your carbohydrates to match your intended training efforts.

Some call this method train low, compete high. If planning an easy-does-it workout, you could experiment with performing it after following a low-carb diet, but if you want to crank it up, make sure to eat plenty of energizing carbs beforehand to keep your energy stores well-stocked. Its important to note that this type of training diet should be undertaken under the supervision of a sports dietitian who can better help you pinpoint your carb needs based on your training schedule.

Bottom line: Carb-cycling isnt as harsh of a commitment as other trending low-carb diets, but we simply need a lot more research to know if its beneficial for performance gains or weight loss. If you want to give carb-cycling a go, consider working with a trained professional and make sure the majority of your carbs are coming from wholesome sources such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

High-carb days shouldnt be filled with muffins and candy. When you are trimming the calories you get from carbs, eat enough quality proteins and fats to help regulate hunger and ensure your body is getting the nutrition it needs. But remember that when carbs go high again, youll need to scale back your protein and fat intake to compensate for the shift in calories. And you should keep an especially close eye on your energy levels during your workouts. If they are consistently flagging, then messing around with your carb intake might not be best for you.

Excerpt from:
What Even Is Carb Cycling (and Should You Try It)? - runnersworld.com