I suspect that losing extra fat is nice in young and old ages too. But I am not a scientist, what could I know?

I'll wait for the study that says gaining excess fat is good. Otherwise this isn't really surprising.

What's even nicer is not ever having any fat to lose to begin with but I aint no scientist either.

I dunno having just 5% lost making a huge impact is kinda surprising.

Losing just 5% of your body weight in middle age can reduce inflammation, lower the risk of stroke and make your heart as healthy as if you had never gained weight, research suggests.

Like yeah no shit lose weight = healthy but I think the 5% marker is the more useful tidbit.

5% is actually quite a lot. BMI charts aren't the most accurate because of the weight of muscle, but look at the categories. 25% is just crossing from normal to overweight. Add another 5% and 30% is now obese.

To me the 5% number isn't eye opening.

I dunno if you told me “Hey if you’re 250 lbs and you lose 12.5 lbs your health will improve drastically” I’d say that’s pretty eye opening.

Different strokes for different folks though.

did you miss the 'body positivity' movement? 'healthy at any weight', etc.

Person: “how do I get healthier?”

Doctor: “lose weight”

Person: shockedpikachu.jpg

It's more that the cardiovascular benefits aren't the same. After a point, your heart, vessels, and lungs just aren't going to improve, no matter what you do. You've got damage done, and reduced ability to heal.

So, if you can cut excess fat in your eighties, it's still a good thing. But it isn't going to reduce heart attack and stroke risks, at least not to a detectable degree.

There had been debate about where that wall is, and probably still will be after this. But good evidence of heart protective benefits in middle age from eve small body fat reductions is really good news. The amounts they're talking are actually achievable with only minor medical intervention too. Won't be easy, but dropping 5ish% can bea achieved way easier than the bigger numbers most people get told they need to cut to do anything useful.

When it comes to managing heart health and risks, having something like this become part of the decision tree is going to change a lot of people's outlooks for the better.