What are healthy and unhealthy body fat percentages

If you want to know how your body fat percentage relates to your health and how lean you can be without having negative consequences for your body, then you should read this article

These days, everyone talks about getting hard and defined to the bone, but few realize that this can also be a curse. Once you've been really slim, anything else will be unacceptable. Slim becomes the new norm. From that point on, you will automatically see anything fatter as fat.

For this reason, many people who were once fixated on achieving a very low body fat percentage are now fixated on maintaining that level of thinness. One could argue that such a bias towards body fat percentage in general is mentally unhealthy, but there is definitely a gray area here.

Some people see dedication and drive, while others see a neurotic obsession. In reality, who is ultimately right depends on individual circumstances. One should also not forget the mental and emotional release that comes from achieving a lean body.

If you're really happy with your body, you won't spend so much time thinking about it. Let's be honest - when we feel like we're too fat or slim but flabby or whatever, it's like a toothache - it won't go away on its own.

Sure, we can avoid acknowledging it or suppress it with rationalizations or other forms of mental gymnastics, but it will never really go away. Its shadow will always be visible.

Now, imagine never having to worry about this again. Imagine never again having to waste energy doubting, worrying or questioning your decisions about what and how to eat. Imagine never having to feel guilty again for breaking the dietary promises you made to yourself.

And imagine the ultimate reward: The freedom to devote all that attention and energy to more positive and meaningful things.

Now, there are two ways to achieve this fitness nirvana:

1. Overcome your desire to be lean and muscular and find satisfaction in your current state
2. Get lean and muscular. Personally, I think that option number two is not only easier, but also psychologically healthier.

But that's not what we're going to talk about in this article. Instead, we're going to focus on the physical effects of different body fat levels.

More specifically, we're going to answer a simple question:

Which body fat levels are healthy and which are unhealthy?

Now that we're on the same page, let's get to the real topic.

What is body fat percentage?

Your body fat percentage is simply the percentage of your weight that is made up of fat. For example, if you weigh 75 kilos and carry around 7.5 kilos of fat, then your body fat percentage is 10% (7.5 divided by 75).

Your body fat percentage changes as your body composition changes. This means that it changes when you build fat, of course, but it also changes when you build muscle.

For example, let's say you start a muscle-building program at a weight of 75 kilos and a body fat percentage of 10%. You eat and train properly and build 7.5 kilos of muscle and 2.5 kilos of fat, so you now weigh 85 kilos and carry around 10 kilos of fat.

Well, your total fat mass has now increased by 33% (from 7.5 to 10 kilos), but your body fat percentage has only increased by 2% to around 12%.

If you then stopped exercising for a year and lost the 5 kilos of muscle you'd gained but didn't lose any fat, your body fat percentage would still be around 12% (10 divided by 80), but you'd look a lot flabbier. So the point is that your body fat percentage goes up and down as you gain and lose muscle and fat.

How can you determine your body fat percentage?

There are a number of ways to calculate your body fat percentage and these can vary significantly in terms of reliability and accuracy.

Here are some examples:

• Body fat scales and other measurements based on electrical impedance measurements are notoriously inconsistent and inaccurate.
• Most skinfold measurement methods are not much better, as they are prone to technical errors and faulty calculation formulas.
• Even the highly acclaimed DEXA scan can be as much off the mark as any other method.

But fortunately, the exact numerical value is not that important when it comes purely to assessing progress. A combination of scales, tape measure, caliper and progress pictures is perfectly adequate for this.

What happens when you lose body fat?

You look better - who would have thought? Apart from that, a lot of other things happen to your body as you slim down (1). You sleep better, your body responds better to exercise and diet, your overall disease risk decreases, your quality of life increases and the list could go on forever (2). Basically, pretty much everything that plays a physiological role works better when you're leaner.

But take thinness too far and it becomes harmful. If your body fat levels get too low, the list of potential negative health consequences is long and includes (3)...

• Hair loss
• Tooth and gum problems
• Low blood pressure
• Bradycardia (athlete's heart)
• Menstrual dysfunction
• Hypogonadism (underactive testicles)
• Hypoglycemia
• Constipation
• Muscle cramps
• Chronic exhaustion
• Mood swings
• Concentration problems

The reason your body fat levels have such a profound effect on your health and well-being is that fat is much more than ugly, oily flesh. It plays many vital roles in the body that include protecting organs from damage, maintaining body temperature, producing hormones and other chemicals, and much more.

Some of these vital hormones and chemicals that require healthy body fat levels include...

• Aromatase

This is an enzyme involved in the metabolism of sex hormones

• TNF alpha and IL-6

These are proteins that are particularly important for the immune system.

• Leptin

This is a hormone primarily associated with the regulation of body weight

• Angiotensin

This is a hormone involved in the control of blood pressure.

• Lipoprotein lipase

This is an enzyme involved in the storage and metabolism of fat to release energy.

When body fat levels drop too low, the production of this (and many other) chemicals is impaired, which in turn can affect your health.

The bottom line is that there is a point at which looking good and being healthy become mutually exclusive. And once that happens, the only way to regain health is to build back some of the fat you've lost (4).

What is a healthy body fat percentage for men?

If you've been active in fitness for any length of time, you've probably heard a lot of opinions on the subject. Ignorance and envy are rife here, with the result that the general trend is to condemn low body fat levels as unhealthy and irresponsible.

However, these fears are greatly overstated.

The reality is that the negative effects associated with low body fat levels in men only come into play at very low body fat levels - around 5% body fat to be precise (5).

As the image below shows, 5% body fat already equates to extreme definition down to the bone. This is the level of leanness that bodybuilders and fitness class athletes bring to the stage (and for which not inconsiderable amounts of drugs and banned substances are required). And even these athletes can't maintain such a low body fat percentage for long before serious problems begin.

Fortunately, the type of definition most men want to achieve falls in the 7 to 9% range, which is naturally achievable and healthily maintainable (6). I should know, as I keep my body fat percentage in the 8% range all year round and have yet to see any negative effects while maintaining more or less perfect health.

So the point is this: If you are a man and your goal is to be lean, athletic and muscular, then there is nothing to worry about. Diet and nutrition are all you need (and of course a few supplements can help too).

What is a healthy body fat percentage for women?

Many people think that low body fat levels are unhealthy for men, but extremely unhealthy for women. This can also be largely attributed to ignorance and envy.

Negative effects associated with low body fat levels in women start to become apparent at around 12% body fat.

The following pictures are intended to give you an idea of what we are talking about here in practice.

I have worked with thousands of women and have yet to meet a woman who says she is aiming for a body fat percentage of 12% (apart from competitions of course). Instead, most women have set a goal that is more achievable and maintainable, which for most equates to a body fat percentage of 18 to 20%.

Addressing female body fat levels and health would not be complete without addressing concerns about hormone levels and menstruation. Many women believe that getting too lean will inevitably cause major hormonal imbalances that can lead to missed periods.

Well, it's not quite that simple. Low body fat levels are associated with low levels of the hormone leptin (7), which can affect menstruation (7) (and especially if body fat levels drop too low).

What has puzzled scientists, however, is the fact that for every female athlete who suffers from a missed period, you can find an athlete with a normal, regular period who is just as lean. Furthermore, female athletes lose their periods at very different levels of body fat.

It was clear that there was more at play here than just body fat levels. Well, the gears of science kept turning and an answer was finally found: energy balance (8). Energy balance describes the relationship between the amount of energy you eat and the amount of energy you burn.

You can think of it as your body's bank account:

• If you take in more energy than you burn, then you are in a state of positive energy balance (calorie surplus)

If you keep your body in a state of calorie surplus, then you are gaining weight

• If you eat less than you burn, you are in a state of negative energy balance (calorie deficit).

If you keep your body in a state of calorie deficit, you will lose weight.

A lot of things happen in the body when you eat too much or too little and some of them have to do with menstruation. That's why studies show that energy balance affects menstruation more than body fat levels (8).

More specifically, if a woman takes in less energy than she uses, she may lose her period. And the greater the difference between intake and expenditure, the more frequent the menstrual irregularities can be (9).

This explains why missed periods are most common in female athletes who participate in sports that require low body weight and leanness, including ballet, gymnastics, long-distance running and swimming.

In most cases, it simply comes down to training too hard combined with too low a calorie intake (10) (which is why many women who work their asses off to lose weight also lose their periods). This is also the reason why periods often return in such athletes when energy intake is sufficiently increased or energy expenditure is sufficiently reduced.

So if you lose your period while dieting to lose fat, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are too lean. Rather, it probably means that you are being too aggressive with your calorie deficit and should reduce the gap between energy intake and consumption.

It should also be noted that high stress levels can also contribute to reproductive problems (11). This is one of the many reasons why you should make adequate relaxation a priority in your life (especially when dieting).

Lastly, it's worth mentioning that I've also seen women struggle with irregular periods after reaching their target weight because they failed to increase their calorie intake appropriately following their diet. Instead, they stuck to their calorie-restricted diet - usually because they were afraid that eating more could lead to weight gain.

The bottom line on healthy body fat percentage

Stop listening to fat people who say that being slim is unhealthy. It is unhealthy to be extremely lean, but it is almost impossible to achieve such low body fat levels naturally (and not considered desirable by most people).

More important is the fact that it is unhealthy to chronically under-eat and over-exercise, regardless of body fat percentage.

So get lean, eat right, train hard, pay attention to your recovery and make your health a priority and you can't lose.

References:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23412685
2. https://www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i2433
3. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/47/16/1012.abstract
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23412685
5. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/47/16/1012.abstract
6. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/47/16/1012.abstract
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22252944
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17909417/
9. öhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25352438
10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3435916/
11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20840250

Source: https://www.muscleforlife.com/healthy-body-fat-percentages/

By Michael Matthews