I'm flipping around the teevee before sleepytime last night, and happen upon the local (local being Boston or Detroit, I think) PBS station doing their pledge drive. The show they're using to hook people between pledge breaks was one I'd seen bits of before. Some doctor-lookin' guy in scrubs explaining good concepts of "waist management." You know, eat this, do this, don't eat that. It's pretty straightforward and un-gimmicky, and very easy to digest, pardon the pun.
I'd never watched it for any great length of time, but I watched enough last night to see something I'd never heard of before.
What the hell is an "omentum"?
I emailed myself a note with the Blackberry to look it up today.
Turns out -- and this is vastly oversimplified, so anatomy nerds need not correct me -- the "omentum" is a fatty gob *under* your belly muscles, around your guts. When you're a fat guy, the omentum can get fatty and push your belly out. That's how some folks can have visible ab muscles with little subcutaneous fat, but still have a beer gut. (I'm not those folks. I mean the folks with the visible abs.)
Interesting, I thought. And interestinger because it is, according to Doctor Whatsisname Wearing The Scrubs, all connected up with hormones and digestion and various whatsits in your innards.
You all know the only thing I love more than being a know-it-all is learning that there's stuff I don't know anything about. And this is the latter. Very curious!
The book being touted is called "You On A Diet". Based on what I saw of the PBS show, it's a synthesis of stuff I've heard about, know a bit about, but never fully synthesized. Stuff like how certain foods will spike your insulin levels, what that does to fat storage, and how your guts honestly process the stuff you eat. It appears to be a very simple-and-makes-sense-without-being-condescending and/or bullshit book.
Someone over at thefitshack.com did a more thorough explanation of the "omentum" and related concepts, having pretty much the same reaction as I did. Go there and learn something new.
I have that book.
ReplyDelete... still haven't read it.
Hi Scott! I'm the someone (LOL) over at thefitshack.com who wrote about the omentum. I'm just like you, I'd never even heard of it before, that is until I read YOU ON A Diet (I love that book, very easy reading while being very informative).
ReplyDeleteThanks for recommending my post to your readers. I remember when I wrote that, it took me quite a while to get it done, but I learned a lot while doing it. Who knew that someone could have a "beer belly" from fat on the inside....I find it very interesting, as well as being good motivation to make some healthy lifestyle changes. :)
All the best,
JoLynn