What's your body shape telling you?

It’s not just your fashion choices that might be affected by your body shape as a woman, but your health too.

Whether you’re apple, pear, hourglass or straight up and down, each one brings with it, it’s own pitfalls, be it increased risk of heart attack, or hidden high cholesterol.

I wrote this health report on exactly what your body shape is telling you for Take a Break magazine, read by over a million women (and men) a week, with expert insight from dietician Helen Bond.

Flip through the feature below to figure out your body type and find out which health issues you might be at risk of. If you’re on a screenreader or find images of words hard to reader, you can read the full feature by scrolling down for accessible text.

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health

what is your body shape telling you?

Apples, pears and the shapes in between – know the hidden health risks and solutions for YOUR body type

Written by Punteha van Terheyden

Our body shapes are largely down to genetics, be it apple, pear, hourglass or the lean straight up and down. But lifestyle and diet hold huge sway over our increased risk of health issues.

Did you know if you take two women of the same age, height, weight and BMI, but different body shapes – one apple and one pear – the apple shaped lady is at higher risk of heart disease?

This boils down to where excess fat cells are stored and how the location of the fat cells determines if they’re ‘active’ fat cells, producing their own unwanted hormones, as well increased concentration of fat around internal organs.

Consultant dietitian for Pharmaton, Helen Bond, gives Take a Break the lowdown…

Apple

For these women, fat typically accumulates in the central abdominal region, and even if they don’t have much excess fat in their youth, are more prone to an apple shape after menopause, when the protective values of once-high oestrogen drop off, and fat cells are stored around the belly.

These women have more visceral fat – or central fat – surrounding their internal organs, increasing risk of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, gallstones and even dementia.

Typically, a diet rich in refined carbs and sugars, fat and processed foods encourages this ‘belly fat’ and apple shape.

SOLUTION: A calorie controlled diet and exercise in tandem is the best way to reduce internal fat. Increasing muscle mass will help counter the negative hormonal producing quality of fat cells in the tummy region.

Getting the Government recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week is important, as well as strength training (weight bearing exercise) twice a week. This will help to either maintain or gain muscle.

Always take advice from a health professional before starting exercise.

TOP TIPS: Don’t forget, no matter how much exercise you do, you can’t outrun a bad diet. Switch refined carbs for low glycaemic index (GI) wholegrains and fibre rich starchy carbs, eat natural fats, cut down on highly-processed foods and added sugar. 

Pear shape

These women will typically carry more weight on their hips, thighs and buttocks. It might be notoriously hard to shift and too much isn’t healthy, but it poses less health risks.

These fat cells are not ‘active’ (producing harmful hormones) but dormant, like a fat warehouse.

Pear shaped women who are overweight will still be better off than the apple shaped as they will likely have less visceral fat. They have lesser risk of developing health problems but nevertheless, pear shapes shouldn’t become complacent, as with time and especially after the menopause, they may store fat above the hip and start to experience the same adverse health effects of being apple shaped.

SOLUTION: Eat a nutritious, well balanced diet packed with plant foods. Not just fruit and vegetables, but plant-based proteins found in beans, pulses, nuts and seeds and grains, like quinoa, oats and buckwheat. Lean meat and oily fish are great for your health too.

Include beans, chickpeas, lentils and pulses when cooking to bulk out meals and fill you up.

As you improve the nutrient quality of your meals with whole natural foods, you’ll find a natural reduction in calories. Together with exercise, you’ll shift excess fat subcutaneously, and around your organs.

TOP TIP: Taking targeted classes for problem areas such as bums and tums, whilst eating more plant based food will be just what you need. If you can afford a personal trainer, get one or go to the park and get running with the free NHS couch to 5K plan.

Classic hourglass figure

Women with body fat distributed evenly all over are often the ones with the enviably slim waists. Slim waists (under 31.5 inches) are also associated with better health overall and I think this measurement is more telling of your health than BMI.

However, you can be overweight or obese, but still have that hourglass distribution of fat, with genetics playing a large role.

For those with an hourglass figure, genetics is the loaded gun, but your diet and lifestyle will be the trigger for associated health risks.

SOLUTION: Lose the extra weight - that’s the key for you. There is no diet that suits everyone and I find diets are ‘time limited,’ meaning once you reach a particular target, you might find yourself reverting back to previous bad eating habits with weight piling back on.

Instead, form good habits to help maintain a lifelong way of healthy eating.

Balance your diet with the four main food groups – fruit and veg, starchy carbs, protein foods and dairy (or alternatives) - and you’ll naturally cut most of the naughty treats that come with extra calories, fats, salt and sugar.

TOP TIP: Ditch highly processed foods. One recent European study showed over half of the food we eat comes from ultra-processed food, made from ingredients and additives you wouldn’t find in your kitchen. If we go back to basics and enjoy minimally processed foods, you’ll naturally cut calories down, shift the weight and keep it off for good.

Straight up and down

Your waist and hips are roughly the same width and you will look lean and slim. But be warned, you may be ‘skinny fat’ or TOFI – Thin on the Outside, but Fat on the Inside, with too much dangerous visceral fat around your organs.

We often associate overweight people with raised cholesterol and assume a healthy weight is an indicator of good health, but it’s not always the case.

People who are this shape don’t need to lose weight, but they do need to look at what they’re eating to ensure their cholesterol, blood pressure, glucose and triglyceride levels are within healthy ranges.

You may have been blessed genetically with a trim figure, but you can’t rest on your laurels as with each passing decade, we tend to gain fat and lose muscle, which slows our metabolism. Bad diets leave those with this body shape still at high risk of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

SOLUTION: Cook from scratch where possible, eat a varied and balanced diet low in added sugars and cholesterol-raising saturated fats. Make sure you’re eating a rainbow of  fruit and veg every day to support good gut health and ensure adequate minerals and vitamin intake, as deficiencies and nutrient shortfalls are not just for the dangerously thin, but for obese and TOFI types, too.

TOP TIP: Make full use of the NHS health check (available for those in England aged 40-74 years) to help flag any issues and take a daily multivitamin if you feel your diet needs some additional support.

ENDS