Balance KH 5510 Instructions For Use Manual page 26

mass than the body weight of someone who does not exercise. Th e athletic
person could be considerably heavier due to muscle mass and yet healthier
than the non-athletic person. A person who loses weight by dieting could
actually weigh less in comparison to someone else, and yet still have a higher
proportion of body fat and therefore have a poorer general health condition.
Diets tend to reduce muscle mass instead of fat.
For these reasons, being overweight has increasingly become defi ned as
having excess body fat.
Th e number of syndromes related to high amounts of body fat in our
western industrialized world is cause for concern. Body fat levels that are
too high are associated with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart
problems, diabetes and even cancer, as proven by scientifi c research. Th e
physical impact of being overweight should not be underestimated either.
On the other hand, it is important not to forget that body fat also has im-
portant functions. Too little fat can result in defi ciency of vitamins and min-
erals stored in the fat, which play important roles in the human organism.
In addition to this, body fat contributes considerably to regulating body
temperature, as does body water. It is fat which pads the joints and protects
internal organs.
Excess body fat forms if the "energy balance" is positive, which means
that the quantity of calories consumed is greater than the calories burned.
Th e process of consuming food provides the human body fi rst and foremost
with the energy required to carry out the basic vital functions. Th ese include
breathing, blood circulation and maintaining the minimum body temperature.
Furthermore, food consumption provides the energy required to carry out
all daily activities such as walking, talking and athletic training. And fi nally a
part of the energy obtained from food is used for digesting the food itself.
Th e number of calories actually needed to carry out all of the above men-
tioned functions is far below what is generally assumed to be the case. Th is
is due not least to the largely static activities that make up our daily lives.
Furthermore, many people estimate the number of calories burned by indi-
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