Calculate BMI-Body, Mass, Index

Calculate BMI-Body, Mass, Index

by | Dec 28, 2019 | Articles

The following information is for education purposes only. If you fall in the high or low BMI or WC range, please contact your physician to discuss your concerns. The medical provider is the right person to advise you on the next steps. Awareness is the key to the healthy body. 

Body mass index (BMI) is an approximate measure of your best weight for health. It is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared (m2).

BMI is intended for adults only, as children and adolescents are constantly growing. This makes it difficult to have set values for BMI cut-offs for young people. However, in adults who have stopped growing, an increase in BMI is usually caused by an increase in body fat. You can calculate your BMI using the CDC Adult BMI calculator here.

Your BMI will classify you as ‘underweight’, ‘healthy weight’, ‘overweight’ or ‘obese’, as defined by the World Health Organization. If your BMI is:

  • under 18.5kg/m2 – you are considered underweight and possibly malnourished
  • 18.5 to 24.9kg/m2 – you are within a healthy weight range for young and middle-aged adults
  • 25.0 to 29.9kg/m2 – you are considered overweight
  • over 30kg/m2 – you are considered obese.

Risks of being overweight (high BMI) and physically inactive

If you are overweight (with a BMI over 25kg/m2) and physically inactive, you may develop:

  • cardiovascular (heart and blood circulation) disease
  • gallbladder disease
  • high blood pressure (hypertension)
  • type 2 diabetes
  • osteoarthritis
  • certain types of cancer, such as colon and breast cancer
  • depression and other mental health disorders.

Risks of being underweight (low BMI)

If you are underweight (BMI less than 18.5kg/m2), you may be malnourished and develop:

  • compromised immune function
  • respiratory disease
  • digestive diseases
  • cancer
  • osteoporosis.

Imp: BMI calculations will overestimate the amount of body fat for:

  • body builders
  • some high-performance athletes
  • pregnant women.

IMP: BMI calculations will underestimate the amount of body fat for:

  • the elderly
  • people with a physical disability, who are unable to walk and may have muscle wasting.

BMI is also not an accurate indicator for people with:

  • eating disorders like anorexia nervosa
  • extreme obesity.

Waist circumference is a better indicator of increased disease risk

Waist circumference can be used to indicate health risk for chronic diseases.

For men:

  • 94 cm or more – increased risk
  • 102 cm or more – substantially increased risk.

For women:

  • 80 cm or more – increased risk
  • 88 cm or more – substantially increased risk.

Although the tendency to deposit fat around the middle is influenced by a person’s genes, you can still take this genetic tendency into account and do something about it.

Being physically active, avoiding smoking, and eating unsaturated fat instead of saturated fat have been shown to decrease the risk of developing abdominal obesity.

Source: Better Health

Hosting for Guests with Special Diets

Hosting for Guests with Special Diets

by | Dec 28, 2019 | Cooking Tips

Are you hosting an event? Do some of your guests have special dietary restrictions? No worries, here are a list of some special diets to help you prepare the menu.

These are the special diets some event guests may follow because of personal and moral beliefs, or for health reasons.

1. Vegetarian:

A primarily plant-based diet. Vegetarians don’t eat meat, seafood (fish) or poultry (chicken), but may eat food eggs, dairy, or honey. Vegetarian varieties include those who eat eggs and dairy, although some may not eat eggs but eat dairy.

  • Char-grilled Brussel sprouts. roasted vegetables with lemon zest, olive oil
  • Portabella mushroom street tacos
  • pasta with vegetables and marinara sauce
  • bruschetta, perogies, cheese platter,
  • avocado eggrolls, tofu with noodles, quesadillas, pizza

2. Vegan

A completely plant-based diet. Vegans don’t eat any meat, seafood, poultry, or eggs, dairy, and gelatin. Honey consumption is controversial among vegans.

  • Tomato, red onion salad with balsamic vinaigrette grilled tofu and vegetable stir-fry, burrito
  • Roasted Cauliflower, fruits with non-dairy cream, vegan cookies, soy ice-cream

3. Pescetarian

A mostly vegetarian diet that includes seafood.

  • Blackened salmon with scalloped zucchini
  • Eggplant rollatini
  • Wild mushroom risotto

4. Keto 

A low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet meant to cause ketosis, in which the body burns fat instead of sugar for energy. People on keto diets eat nuts, avocados, tofu, lean and high-fat proteins, as well as saturated fats, such as butter and coconut oil. Carbohydrates are kept between 20 and 50 grams per day.

  • Shrimp scampi
  • BBQ baby back ribs, veggie burgers
  • Pancetta frittata with fanned avocado slices, greek yogurt with fruit

5. Paleo 

Based on the diet of our Paleolithic, hunter-gatherer ancestors, the paleo diet consists primarily of lean meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Dairy, beans, and grains—all of which became widespread with the advent of farming—are off the menu for paleo guests.

  • Filet mignon and sauteed spinach
  • Vegetable-stuffed roasted chicken breast
  • Pulled pork with butter lettuce wraps

6. Raw food

Mostly uncooked, unprocessed foods free from additives. Because the foods are uncooked and unprocessed, the raw food diet is typically plant-based.

  • Salad with lime-avocado dressing
  • Zucchini / Squash noodle pasta salad
  • Cauliflower ‘non-fried’ rice

7. Clean eating 

Fresh, minimally processed foods prepared without additives. May include cooked meats that are not processed—roasted chicken, yes; salami, no.

  • Arugula, beet, goat cheese, and walnut salad
  • Shrimp tacos with pickled red onions
  • Roasted herb-crusted chicken breast

8. DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) 

This is a diet designed to lower blood pressure, with a focus on low-sodium foods and foods that contain calcium, magnesium, and calcium.

  • Low-sodium spicy seared swordfish
  • Low-sodium Tuscan bean soup
  • Bananas foster

9. The Mediterranean –

The traditional diet of the Mediterranean region, with healthy oils and seafood, and a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

  • Grape leaves, spanakopita, kabob, falafel, tabouli, eggplant, hummus, tahini, baklava, Greek yogurt, feta cheese, olive oil

 

Source: Social Tables