Althouse: "For some reason the idea has grabbed us that the best weight throughout the life span is that of a 20-year-old."

October 1, 2012

"For some reason the idea has grabbed us that the best weight throughout the life span is that of a 20-year-old."

"But there’s just overwhelming evidence now that as you go through life, it’s in your best interests to lay down some fat.... It is not my contention that the fatter the better.... It is my contention that the desirable range rises with age."

Said Dr. Reubin Andres — quoted in his NYT obit. He made it to age 89, himself. Based on his research, he figured that we ought to lay in 6 new pounds per decade for the best shot at long life.

20 comments:

edutcher said...: I've dropped about 8 pounds and The Blonde doesn't like it, for the reason in the post.

She'll say, "If you get sick, you want some mass to keep you going".

Something like that, the idea being that, if you're too thin, all your resources may be used up fighting the disease.; 10/1/12, 6:14 AM
Leon said...: Cool based on that I'm only ten pounds over weight. I've thought for some time now. In her 70s my grandmother lost some teeth and had some blood issues. Between the two she lost LOTS of weight before we convinced her to get false teeth (something old people had) and the doctors got regulated her blood. She's in her mud 90s now. I'm convinced that if she didn't have those reserves we'd have lost her.; 10/1/12, 6:20 AM
Leon said...: Cool based on that I'm only ten pounds over weight. I've thought for some time now. In her 70s my grandmother lost some teeth and had some blood issues. Between the two she lost LOTS of weight before we convinced her to get false teeth (something old people had) and the doctors got regulated her blood. She's in her mud 90s now. I'm convinced that if she didn't have those reserves we'd have lost her.; 10/1/12, 6:20 AM
Rusty said...: I'm up on all a ya!; 10/1/12, 6:54 AM
Astro said...: WooHoo!
60 years old and only 7 pounds over the 'ideal' weight for my age and height. Passed my physical last month with flying colors. 120, here I come. (knock wood...); 10/1/12, 7:33 AM
carrie said...: That is consistent with my observations of my very long lived family. I think that the current thin at all ages craze is based on aesthetics--everyone has to look sexy and be sexy. Starting at 30, I've gained 5 pounds every decade no matter how hard I tried to avoid that, but I feel great and all my numbers are great and my doctor never says anything about my weight. My cousin had breast cancer when she was 58. She was thin and while she was undergoing chemo and radiation she said that it would have helped if she had had some extra weight before all of that started.; 10/1/12, 8:28 AM
carrie said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/1/12, 8:28 AM
RonF said...: On that basis I'm going to live to 150.; 10/1/12, 8:44 AM
TosaGuy said...: When I was 20 I was 6'3" and 165 pounds. In the Army, I would freeze my butt off out in the field. I couldn't wear enough clothes on a cold morning.

When I was 34 and 200 pounds doing the same thing, I wore only a regular uniform with a long sleeve T-shirt underneath and felt fine.; 10/1/12, 9:14 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Any idiot knows this:

Skinny fucks die from a wide range of everything.

NewAgers have promoted this concentration camp psychology, which would be fine with me if they limited it to themselves, but Noooooooo!

"MInd/Body/Spirit" my ass.

Heil Hitler!

I mean, use your heads, people!; 10/1/12, 10:18 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: edutcher,

I've dropped about 8 pounds and The Blonde doesn't like it, for the reason in the post.

She'll say, "If you get sick, you want some mass to keep you going".

Something like that, the idea being that, if you're too thin, all your resources may be used up fighting the disease.

Listen to her, man - it's so fucking obvious it hurts,...; 10/1/12, 10:19 AM
David said...: Reassuring. I am right on schedule.; 10/1/12, 10:30 AM
Charlie Currie said...: The studies are junk. They were/are all done with people who were already sick with life threatening diseases.

Healthy lean people contract fewer diseases of civilization (T2D, CVD, Cancer, etc) than healthy people with fat bellies.

Go to any area that is predominately populated with senior citizens. Then go sit in a few doctor offices. You will come to one of two conclusions - either lean people don't get sick, or they have all died off. Or, a third conclusion could be that there are no lean people and there never have been. (I spent four years in this environment caring for a family member who suffered from all of the above).

Sugar coating (pun intended) obesity does no one any good - not those who get sick, or those who end up having to pay for it.

Cheers; 10/1/12, 10:40 AM
MadisonMan said...: I don't think you can apply a one-size-fits-all observation to mortality, as there will be considerable variability from one family to the next. Learn how people in your family have died -- heart attacks and strokes in my case -- and work to avoid those particular ailments.

Every time I have a colonoscopy (once, so far) I find myself observing that no one in my family has ever died from cancer (that I know of -- except for my smoking grandfather who loved unfiltered camels and died in the 40s of esophogeal cancer) and that the "preventive" test is a complete waste of money.; 10/1/12, 11:12 AM
Anonymous said...: MM, the prep for the colonoscopy itself will made me wish I were dead (of course I'm exaggerating a bit). There has to be a better way to prep for this procedure. The colonoscopy itself is not horrid.; 10/1/12, 12:18 PM
Kimberly said...: Let's see, weighed 120 at 20, weighed 130 in my 30's, weighed 140 in my 40's...clearly, I'm on track to be immortal. Unfortunately, since I'm short, I'm also on track to have to entirely replace my wardrobe every decade or so. I'll need immortality just to pay off the credit card bills.; 10/1/12, 12:24 PM
kurt9 said...: It depends on the type of fat. Visceral fat, the kind that surrounds the vital organs, is seriously bad for you. It is associated with morbidity such as Type-2 diabetes.; 10/1/12, 1:52 PM
kurt9 said...: Loose the visceral fat:

http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2008/03/lose-the-visceral-fat.php

http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2012/03/more-visceral-fat-means-more-inflammation.php; 10/1/12, 1:53 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Chuck Currie,

Healthy lean people contract fewer diseases of civilization (T2D, CVD, Cancer, etc) than healthy people with fat bellies.

I like how you've jumped immediately to obesity. That's the issue and the problem:

You're crazy.

Nobody here, or in the article, is endorsing obesity - but it's all you crack pots talk about.

Go to any area that is predominately populated with senior citizens. Then go sit in a few doctor offices. You will come to one of two conclusions - either lean people don't get sick, or they have all died off. Or, a third conclusion could be that there are no lean people and there never have been.

Funny, but I have a friend who just got sick - he lost 40 pounds in no time. Weird how that happens. Now he's got his weight back, and I and everyone else he knows is happy about it.

Sugar coating (pun intended) obesity does no one any good - not those who get sick, or those who end up having to pay for it.

Cheers

Cheers yourself - I'll have that drink - you starve, you moron,...; 10/1/12, 5:44 PM
Charlie Currie said...: The Crack Emcee,

What got you to the position in your life that would lead to believe that I'm "crazy", a "crack pot" and a "moron"?

I was only stating my observations after four plus years of weekly doctor office visits. And, that observation was, that the vast majority of elderly people visiting the doctor were over weight - quite a few, morbidly obese.

When it comes to what, or how much, a person eats - or, how much weight they gain, I don't care. Just like I don't care what you smoke, drop, inhale, shoot in your arm, or whether or not you wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle or a seat belt in your car, or free climb and sky dive - just as long as you're picking up the tab.

Cheers, and enjoy your drink.; 10/1/12, 9:58 PM