Instead of Body Mass Index (BMI), Use THIS…
Learn why BMI isn’t that helpful and discover other ways to evaluate your overall health and longevity.
SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER HERE:
Keto Calculator:
VO2max:
▶️
CAC test:
▶️
0:00 Introduction: What is BMI?
0:20 Problems with using BMI
0:58 Other common measurements
2:13 How much weight should you lose in a week?
3:23 Understanding plateau
3:45 BMI explained
4:05 Helpful tests to evaluate your health
6:25 The best assessment of overall health
7:38 Get unfiltered health information by signing up for my newsletter
Let’s talk about the problems with using BMI (body mass index) as a weight or health measurement.
One of the biggest problems with BMI is that it doesn’t tell you how much fat you have versus muscle. It also can’t give you much of an idea of what's going on with your overall health.
Other common measurements:
• BMR (basal metabolic rate): Measures how fast you’re burning calories
• TDEE (total daily energy expenditure): Measures the quantity of energy being burned
• Keto calculator: Measures BMR and TDEE and can tell you how many calories and how many macronutrients you should consume in a day based on your BMR and TDEE
Many times, people look at how much weight they lose per week as a measurement of how healthy their metabolism is. However, this isn’t a good idea.
A big principle to consider is: get healthy to lose weight—don’t lose weight to get healthy. In the process of exercising and getting healthy, you’re going to gain muscle.
Muscle is heavier than fat. This means that some weeks you may not lose any weight, but your clothes are still going to feel more and more loose.
Instead of a BMI test, there are many other helpful tests you can do to help measure your overall health.
One of the best assessments of overall health is the metabolomic test. This test can look at your metabolic pathways in real-time. It can provide great data to help professionals understand what could happen down the road, so you can do something about it now.
Dr. Eric Berg DC Bio:
Dr. Berg, age 58, is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis and intermittent fasting. He is the author of the best-selling book The Healthy Keto Plan, and is the Director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals®. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media.
Follow Me On Social Media:
Facebook:
Instagram:
Anchor:
TikTok:
Disclaimer:
Dr. Eric Berg received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1988. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Berg is a licensed chiropractor in Virginia, California, and Louisiana, but he no longer practices chiropractic in any state and does not see patients so he can focus on educating people as a full-time activity, yet he maintains an active license. This video is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, prescription, or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Berg and you. You should not make any change in your health regimen or diet before first consulting a physician and obtaining a medical exam, diagnosis, and recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
#keto #ketodiet #weightloss #ketolifestyle
Thanks for watching! I hope this helps you better understand BMI and other ways to assess your health. I’ll see you in the next video.
Dr Berg,
With keto and fasting,
He leads the way,
Guiding us all
To a healthier day,
His videos are clear,
His advice is sound,
In the quest for wellness,
He can always be found.
So here’s to Dr. Berg,
With gratitude and cheer,
For helping us live our best lives,
Year after year!👍👍
Good work ChatGPT!
Wow!
Have a wonderful day.
Here’s my poem
Dr. Berg, he got me healthy using keto and fasting
He has done more for me then 40 years with my personal PCP and Bergs been free, not $120 per office visit wanting to push pills down my throat.
The difference between the two is that my PCP gives me pills to treat a condition, Dr. Berg gives me knowledge to totally avoid any conditions
I’ve posted on here until I’m blue in the face at what this man has done for me at the age of 61. Loss of 52 pounds and 7 daily medications without charging me a penny.
OK it didn’t rhyme but at least it’s the truth.
@@withrahul
Oh, what a delightful surprise
to witness such intelligence,
especially from a delicate
snowflake made entirely of Soy,
gracing a keto site…?
Let that sink in
Truly thought-provoking…
Here’s to the little, sad, bitter, and small man.
The Salt is Real, and oh,
I must admit,
I am thoroughly unimpressed
The nuances of your inadequacies are almost touching.
I can feel your frustration,
It is immensely satisfying
If only we could All somehow
harness your remarkable uselessness,
We could surely save the Entire World🤣😂
@@MrsChatachatita2 And the same to you as well👍
I’m 62, 20 pounds overweight, with several health issues. I started a ketovore lifestyle 3 weeks ago. I have lost 12 pounds of inflammation and water, which is great. But the difference in how I feel is the awesome part of this diet. I’ve committed to a 90 day trial. I can’t wait to see the results.😊
What are you gonna eat ?
n where did u learn about this diet ??
😇😇😇
stay blessed.
@@kalnwi2023 Celebrate with a BBQ without the sugar sauce, I use worcestershire.
@@sunshinemehta2788 , Dr. Ken Berry, on YouTube. He made sense to me. I’m feeling better daily, and can’t wait to see the 90 day results. I had blood work done right before I started, and go back in 2 more months, so I will have a comparison. 😁
Stick with it. I’m 20 years older than you and went carnivore three years ago. It’s improved every aspect of my health
I followed your advice from previous video and had my CAC test. I couldn’t believe, as a 64 year old T2 diabetic for 20 years, my score was ZERO! Awesome Doc, your Keto and OMAD works!
Amazing. Happy for you. Keep up the good work!
Can you share what previous video you watched? Thanks!
@@feistyterrier not sure, search YouTube, Dr Berg CAC test
@@feistyterrierIf you type words like CAC test, ect, in the search 🔎 area of this channel, you will find videos Dr Berg made to help with these situations. If you want to avoid yt ads, go on his website instead.
So very well done 👍
Sharing Dr Berg notes
One of the biggest problems with BMI is that it doesn’t tell you how much fat you have versus muscle. It also can’t give you much of an idea of what’s going on with your overall health.
Other common measurements:
• BMR (basal metabolic rate): Measures how fast you’re burning calories
• TDEE (total daily energy expenditure): Measures the quantity of energy being burned
• Keto calculator: Measures BMR and TDEE and can tell you how many calories and how many macronutrients you should consume in a day based on your BMR and TDEE
Many times, people look at how much weight they lose per week as a measurement of how healthy their metabolism is. However, this isn’t a good idea.
A big principle to consider is: get healthy to lose weight—don’t lose weight to get healthy. In the process of exercising and getting healthy, you’re going to gain muscle.
Muscle is heavier than fat. This means that some weeks you may not lose any weight, but your clothes are still going to feel more and more loose.
Instead of a BMI test, there are many other helpful tests you can do to help measure your overall health.
One of the best assessments of overall health is the metabolomic test. This test can look at your metabolic pathways in real-time. It can provide great data to help professionals understand what could happen down the road, so you can do something about it now.
Thank you Dr Berg!
😺👍
When I first went low carb, I lost very well at first in the first year. Stalled at 156 for a year. But figured it was way better, as I was holding steady and not starving to death.
But also dropped 2 sizes during that year. Then the weight started coming off again the next year. About 13 years of holding steady in a 10 pound range. I weigh the most at the end of winter. By November looking too thin.
As a physicist, BMI has always seemed odd to me, because the formula Weight/square of height is that for a pressure (Force/Area). One reason doctors like BMI is that they routinely measure both weight and height for their patients and so they have the data for everyone, but BMI has problems, as Dr Berg points out.
This is exactly why I refuse to get on the scale when I go to the doctor. Especially if it has nothing to do with the actual reason I’m there in the first place.
I think about it as mass per unit of cross sectional area. I’ve never considered it being like pressure before, that’s interesting.
What makes you a physicist? I hear this line so many times. You mean you’ve got a qualification and now you’re an expert 🙄👎
hi dr. berg… i love your videos and the knowledge that you share. thank you for all your hard work. i appreciate you!
will you please share your knowledge on adaptogenic mushrooms? i’ve been seeing this alot lately on the internet. thanks
@@johnryder8464 WOW. Envy much?
I’m 6’5″ tall and my BMI is now on the edge of green…almost suggesting that I’m close to obese. However, in 2020 I had a BMI of 33 which was obese. Since then, keto with intermittent fasting 20:4 helped me to easily shed 103 pounds, helping me to feel more healthy than I ever have.
The thing is, I’m carrying a fair amount of muscle, so my weight might appear to be heavy at 220 pounds…but I know I’m not anywhere near obese. For me, I believe that I’ve settled at my perfect normal weight, based on two keto meals per day. That tells me right away that BMI is not a good indicator of true levels of health.
BMI is an antiquated system that has never been able to to give a realistic weight goal. Too many factors not taken into account. Thanks Dr. Berg for addressing this!
As an ex-athlete over six-two, the use of BMI has been one of my biggest bugbears about UK health care.
I’ve always felt BMI was problematic because it’s very different for different people. I do recall being in a vat of water for a test as a kid but have forgotten the exact details.
I’m truly grateful for all these important contents you bring into light Dr. Berg, as it provides issues to be discussed with my doctor — Thank you✨🌻Please keep doing what you love to do & sharing with the rest of us 🙌🙌
The biggest problem with BMI being used as a gauge individual health is that it was never designed for that. It was designed for use in gauging POPULATION health. Even in that use it has serious limitations and inaccuracies. It should be eliminated from all use in health care.
Dr Berg mentions waist-to-hip ratio, which is a better measure of body fat content than BMI, as is waist-to-height ratio. But you’re right, there will always be variations due to muscle mass. These numbers are just an indication and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
Imho BMI is not a bad tool for the first assesment at home, followed with a waist-hip measurement (but that in itself can be tricky with women, because their ratio might be fine despite being overweight) – when in doubt, go see a physician. The problem starts when said physician relies only on BMI, which really shouldn’t be more than a basic layman’s tool. I’d say it’s even more worthless as a population tool, because a group of half starving individuals and half obese ones will come out as a healthy population – it then, too, needs to be evaluated together with other data, which takes us back to it being a useful tool, just not a stand-alone one.
if you want to reduce your belly visceral fat watch channel Dr Sean omara vids on viseral fat & sprinting. this works!!
it was designed for use in gauging population health in 12 year old boys. The BMI formula itself violates the cube square law, if you are looking at taller people it will show overweight-ness, and if you are looking at smaller people it will show underweight-ness.
Or at the least, more information about BMI and its misinformation. The average person has no idea what you just stated. It’s a good thing that Dr. Berg brings out truths that prompts further discussions.
Always appreciate your videos. I find if I avoid poisoned food, sugar and over abundance of carbs, my body weight naturally stabilizes where it wants to be.
HOWEVER…for the first time in my life, my BMI does not classify me as obese. I have progressive MS, have a whole lot of fat on my body, and am the spitting image of misery, but my BMI is “healthy.” Proud of that one! 😉
@@VapingBeeInteresting! Thank you so much for sharing.
@@VapingBeeSome of Dr Berg’s videos /articles on MS may be of interest.
@@Helenegardener Definitely! I love him!
What are your thoughts on FFMI calculators? My BMI reading shows me as being obese. But a FFMI calculator puts me at “24” which classifies me as a bodybuilder/weightlifter. Usually I work out at least 5x/week. At 5’11” I’m 213lbs. The two fat scales I use put me anywhere at 15%-18% body fat. I wouldn’t classify myself as a “bodybuilder” but I’m certainly not obese, as the BMI measurements suggest.
Have you checked the other tests he mentioned here?
Thank you Dr. Berg for putting this info out there. I never believed in BMI ever since they would send home letters of my normal athletic children as being obese. My husband is stuck on these BMI standards and is now what I consider underweight and almost emaciated. Maybe he will listen hearing it from you.
If you don’t believe BMI then how do you that your husband is underweight
@@DaflavaSuper she uses complicated organs called eyes.
The BMI standards has most men categorized as overweight unless they are fat and bones. I am 5’6” weigh 150 lbs. Carry minimal fat. I look almost emaciated. Need to be 160 lbs to not look wasted. But 160 lbs at my height is called overweight according to the BMI standards.
@@rey3472 I’m trying to convince my husband. He’s 5’5 and 145 and he looks almost emaciated. He looked good at 155-160.
Thank you for posting this! I had commented on this at another video. I thought BMI was important, but I can change that to using more diverse tools, I agree. I found with the BMI, athletes were certain to be overweight often. I will focus on healthy living. I want those tests and mitochondria oxygenation, so they can eat O2, and I can get high performance. I have something to work for this year! Thank you!
Great information!! You are so correct about BMI. It’s a very generalized calculation. I don’t let my clients weigh themselves for 4-6 weeks after starting their fitness program with me, and actually discourage them from weighing themselves at all while working with me. I perform a thorough body measurement and body fat composition when we first begin, and then measure them periodically throughout their fitness training. It’s such a motivational boost to see the measured results. I also tell them that their clothes may actually fit a little tighter in the beginning, due to the body adding some muscle before it has adapted to properly burn the fat for fuel.
I’m super interested in the metabolomic test! How interesting to see the Krebs cycle at work in the body! I look forward to hearing more!
See that’s what doctors should do is measure people also I’ve lost little weight but have dropped almost three sizes and even though my weight gain was from meds not overeating my doctors keep pushing for me use Ozempic or just get a gastric sleeve .I’m obese in the BMI standards but have no diabetes or high blood pressure but yet my doctors can’t tell me why my labs are so great and all they look at is the physical your outward aoprearance I’ve had 7 children and I have diastis recti and it’s hard to tone that part of my body but I’ve asked all doctors why if I eat healthy I’m considered auotomatically unhealthy according to my apprearance it’s just not fair how they are so easy to put you in the same category as every other obese person
@@susievidal4134OMG 😮😮😮 You may want to change doctor! Some of Dr Berg’s videos /articles on OZEMPIC and on Gastric sleeve is of interest.
I am currently trying to lose 50 pounds (down about 30 so far) to get back to my athlete days, and I couldn’t imagine doing it without weighing myself. I weigh myself multiple times a day, not always to see it go down, but as a reminder of the fruits of my labor, and seeing the pounds melt off is like passing milestones. I would definitely caution against being so anti-weighing for everyone, as the scale can be a great motivator to keep working hard. I would definitely do it on a more individualized basis than a rule of thumb if possible. But I am glad you care for your clients and hope they all succeed 🙂
@@harrya698 Hey! I appreciate your comment! I’m also glad to see that you’re working out!
I have worked with many clients who are clinically obese and/or have metabolic syndrome. It can be extremely disheartening and frustrating for them to see their weight go up at the beginning of their programs while their body systems and metabolism are correcting themselves. I only ask them to abstain from weighing themselves for the first 6 weeks. It takes about that long for their increased metabolism to start reflecting on the scale. After that, I usually suggest that they weigh themselves intermittently, if at all. Using a weight scale can be deceptive, as it doesn’t take into account the person’s body composition and hydration level. It can definitely be helpful in the early stages to abstain from weighing, when the client is obese or addicted to weighing themselves. So, I ask them to focus more on how they’re feeling, their increased energy, and how their clothes are fitting, as opposed to the numbers on a scale. This helps them to focus on the more important aspects of their health and not their weight.
Muscle weighs more than fat, so as a client begins adding muscle, a lot of times they will actually gain a little weight at the beginning. For a former athlete, like yourself, this may not affect you, but for someone who is struggling with self confidence and feels defeated by the numbers on weight scales, it’s important to keep them motivated, seeing and feeling the health improvements, and moving in a positive direction mentally, as well as physically. Every client is different, and I design their exercise program specifically for them. This was just to reiterate that BMI is not a good method for determining overall health, and neither is a weight scale. At this time, the most accessible gold standards for determining fitness are body composition and maximum oxygen uptake, which need to be performed by qualified and experienced professionals.
Every client has specific needs and their current physical, mental and emotional health need to be considered when designing their fitness program. I have found that most of my clients feel liberated and happy when they stop weighing themselves, and actually become more aware of their state of health without it. But, as I stated before, every person is unique and has different motivators and drivers.
Keep up the forward momentum! I wish you the best in your fitness pursuit!
The biggest problem I personally have with BMI, is that it doesn’t allow any way to enter height as a variable, and since I’m toward the higher end of the bell curve in height, BMI will always condemn me as overweight, no matter how thin I am. I’ve learned to ignore it, but I’ve found that insurance companies won’t, even after they have met me in person and realize that I’m NOT obese, just tall and muscular…
If this sounds like you too, keep in mind that according to the BMI, nearly ALL of the NBA and the NFL are obese or morbidly obese!
i feel your pain
What do you mean? The literal BMI formula is “weight (lb) / [height (in)]2 x 703”? How does it not factor in height?
@@richard77231 I’m 6’6 I ain’t seen a chart with my height on it
Thank you Dr.Berg! This helped explain why I don’t really feel like I actually have lost 44 pounds since March. Been working at it! Bloating probably still a big issue too
I’m 5’7” (170 cm) and 185 lbs (84 kg) and engage in intensive exercise 3x week. I maintain about 14% body fat and am extremely fit. The hospital I work at gives you points back for being in shape, not smoking and such, and gives you a bonus at the end of the year essentially for being healthy. Because my BMI is consistently greater than 30 I get dinged and I do not get the full Reimbursement. I’ve argued with him on the phone many many times. And yet still because BMI is a thing that the health industry goes by they don’t acknowledge Fitness. I am penalized for. Very frustrating.
I feel your pain. I’m 5’9″ and I am built like a running back. My ideal weight is about 185. But even at 225 I considered myself an athlete. I worked out with weights, had incredible cardio on an inclined treadmill and would go on ten-mile mountain hikes at a good clip. Additionally, my clothes fit well and I didn’t have a gut. Yet the BMI chart would label me as obese and says I should weigh between 130-160. Last time I weighed 160 I was a sophomore in high school and got an A on the Presidential Fitness test.
That sucks!!!
there are always carrots dangled to encourage workers that always have some small print to make sure you are always outside getting that payment, and then it grinds on you and adds stress you don’t need. What to do is cut back on helping them out if they are taking away from you, play their game and make them realise they are been petty , that day where it would be great for you to stay on say no i’m going home now , or that dya someone want to swap a shift just be awkward , then you can say it seems in your books my bmi is detrimental in your remuneration to me, yet you seem to take advantage of me regularly delivering beyond my expected duties.