Your body weight is certainly a good way to gauge your overall health, but most of the time, the number on the scale isn’t essentially the one that indicates how healthy you are. Also, the number says nothing about your physical fitness, mental health, disease risk and other different aspects of wellbeing that ultimately figure into your overall health.
In today’s health conscious world, everything is being counted from steps to calories consumed. And, among them, body weight is perhaps the only one measurement that’s continually counted, addressed and simply criticized whenever it comes to assessing a person’s overall health.
As a lot of emphasis is given to the number on the scale in the fitness realm, people often consider it as the only and most important factor that reveals state of fitness. But in reality, your wellbeing actually depends on a few different things called biomarkers, says Malina Linkas Malkani, a registered dietician, nutritionist and creator of the Wholitarian Lifestyle.
According to Malkani, keeping a track of these biomarkers can facilitate in determining whether a person is making progress and reaching his/her nutritional goals.
Today, health has become very individualized. All you’d need is a medical degree, a slew of clinical tests and some blood work to tell the complete story. But if you want to discover where you actually stand, you need to actively count some other aspects of your day-to-day life to measure your health better, instead of hopping on a weighing scale. Dr. Nesochi Okeke-Igbokwe, a physician as well as health and wellness expert, together with Malkani, gave some valuable insights on the factors that literally and figuratively describe your overall health condition. Here’re the indicators that were mentioned by these experts.
Glasses of water
Malkani emphasizes on hydration and is concerned that most people fail to figure out how much of water is needed by their body. According to her, while hydration is crucial for our overall wellness and health, there’s also a wide-spread misconception that says everyone has to drink eight glasses of water each day. In reality, the amount of water needed by an individual to stay hydrated depends on a significant number of factors such as activity level, gender, age and climate. So, she advises her clients to check their urine first instead of recommending them a fixed number of glasses. The ideal goal is to have urine that’s pale yellow colored or even lighter, but anything darker signals that you’re consuming less amount of water than what your body needs.
Waist circumference
Measuring someone’s waist circumference is preferred by both Okeke-Igbokwe and Malkani to draw a clear picture of his/her health. According to Okeke-Igbokwe, this measurement helps in evaluating the risk of serious health conditions such as stroke, heart disease and sleep apnea. Malkani added that this number can reveal more about a client’s risk of disease compared with the number on the scale. Waist circumference indicates the presence of belly (or, visceral) fat, which is the fat encircling internal organs. Belly fat much more accurately discloses the risk of obesity-related disease than overall body fat.
Blood pressure
Okeke-Igbokwe prioritized blood pressure as another crucial number that demands close attention and should be kept under control to maintain overall wellbeing. She said that uncontrolled hypertension is one of the key factors that trigger atherosclerosis, a very serious condition. And extreme high blood pressure often leads to the damage of crucial vessels in the body. It’s important to maintain your blood pressure within the normal range to avert increased risk of stroke or heart attack. According to a report by the American Heart Association, very high blood pressure indicates a severe level of resistance inside the arteries.
Cholesterol levels
Okeke-Igbokwe opines that cholesterol level should be considered with equal importance and in case of any abnormality, one should seek advice from doctor. The levels of your “good” and “bad” cholesterol help you identify risk of clinical conditions. She suggested getting your cholesterol levels checked by a medical practitioner at least once every five years by the time you’re about twenty. And if you’re suffering from other conditions, you may need to check it more frequently. She added that this number can act as an indicator of high-risk factor for cardiac disease.
Vegetables consumed
Malkani prefers to look at the number of vegetables and fruits consumed by a person each day when it comes to diet. She also takes the average number of servings of high-glycemic foods and processed foods under consideration. A report by Harvard Medical School reveals that high-glycemic foods are responsible for increased blood sugar. This, being a common term in diabetes, should be checked on a regular basis to draw a clear picture of your diet. She emphasizes on having a diverse range of fruits and vegetables to reap the nutritional benefits to the optimum level. According to the Victoria State Government of Australia, the chemicals that provide the vegetables and fruits with their colors come with the added advantage of their own health benefits. So, you should try to consume greater variety of foods with different colors to get health benefits. Malkani explained the general rule that says the more servings of vegetables and fruits consumed each day, especially the non-starchy ones, the better is the impact on your health and wellness on the whole. This is mainly because vegetables and fruits are rich in nutrients, which means they offer a significant number of healthy micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals per calorie. According to a report by SFGate, for someone who consumes 2,000 calories per day, the typically recommended amount of vegetables is four to five servings each day. Everything from legumes to dark leafy greens will help you pump up the intake of a variety of vitamins and nutrients.
Sleeping hours
Okeke-Igbokwe emphasized on getting eight to nine hours of sleep every night for everyone. However, the recommended time by the National Sleep Foundation is seven to nine hours for adults above 18. According to Okeke-Igbokwe, this amount of sleep can greatly help you lower various chronic medical ailments as sleep deprivation has been associated with diabetes, hypertension and even cardiac disease. A report published by The Guardian said that the less you sleep, the less your lifespan becomes. Another research conducted by the Center for Human Sleep Science of the University of California supports this claim as well.
Activities and steps
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, physical activity is immensely crucial when it comes to lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes, maintaining strong bones and improving your mood, among others. You don’t necessarily need to hit a gym to stay physically active. If counting the daily steps encourages you to move more, you should go for it. Put simply, you should enjoy your exercise regimen. Incorporating some type of physical activity into the daily routine is important, Okeke-Igbokwe said. She added that researches have found an association of exercising for a minimum of 30 minutes each day lowers the risk of early death. The objective should actually be to stay active as much as you can to gain health benefits to the optimum level when it comes to physical activity and exercise. When it comes to the number of steps you should take each day, Okeke-Igbokwe said that though the number varies based on the level of physical activity, if the number of steps makes you break a sweat, it should be good for you.
Final note
A combination of biomarkers helps health professionals obtain a clearer picture of someone’s overall health and wellbeing. Since there are many biomarkers to consider, it indicates that it’s not right to prioritize the number on the scale heavily. Instead, you should emphasize on all of these biomarkers to get valuable insights and plan your road to a healthier lifestyle accordingly.
