Every health and fitness magazine you lay your eyes on these days, has tonnes of images of people with chiseled abs and toned muscles. Sort of like Greek gods decided to try some part time modelling. As a somewhat flabby dude, let me just say –
Not all of us were born with perfect genes, or have the ability to say no to devilishly tasty fries from McDonald’s. But guess what? According to science, being a little obese is not always a bad thing.
According to what this article on QZ says, some researchers noticed that some patients with chronic conditions fared better than others with the same conditions. The common factor among those who fared better? They were all overweight, or obese.
Healthcare and nutrition researchers are calling this the “obesity paradox”. Why paradox? Well because while on one hand, it is a known fact that there’s a direct correlation between obesity and increased chances of a number health risks, once an obese person has that condition, he/she has better chances of getting better than a non-obese person.
So, what they’re saying is, (ridiculous simplification alert!) if you’re obese, you’re more likely to get a heart attack, but once you get it, you’re better suited to deal with it than a thin person.