Body Types

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Apple Body Shape

The apple body shape (body fat is stored around the middle - i.e. abdomen, chest and surround internal organs, such as the heart) is linked with health problems such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure and gall bladder disease.

The shape is predominantly a male phenomenon; although women are more prone to develop an apple shape in mid-life, particularly after menopause. This is because the female hormones are present in much smaller amounts and so the shape tends to become more 'male'.

There is also evidence that abdominal fat develops when you are under long-term stress. The hormone cortisol is released during stress, and it seems that high levels of cortisol in the body tend to encourage central fat to accumulate. Researchers at Yale University studied 60 women and found that the more stress they were under, the more fat they stored around their stomach.

In other words, the people most likely to develop an apple body shape are stressed men of any age, and older stressed women.

The apple shaped body effect can be minimized with a sensible diet, regular exercise and stress-reduction techniques.

Pear Body Shape

People with a Pear Body Shape have hips wider than their shoulders because their bodies store fat there and on the thighs. Pear shaped bodies carry their extra weight below the waistline, and do not seem to have as high a risk of developing health problems like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, ... than people with an Apple Body Shape.

Pear shaped people usually lose fat in the upper body, so their overall shape doesn't change much when they lose weight

With time, as insulin resistance worsens, people who store fat below the belt will start accumulating it above the belt too and they will start experiencing all of the more immediate health threatening problems their apple shaped friends likely experience right now.