Ask a public-health/nutrition student

[Aractus]

Is a bmi of 17.1 bad bad or meh bad?
Follow up question. What do I do to gain weight without eating junk food and sweets?

BMI is an imperfect measurement for estimating a person's risk of NCDs (non-communicable diseases). Being underweight in and of itself is not a problem, as noted in my textbook (Understanding Nutr. Aust./NZ ed.), a person who is healthy at their present weight does not need to gain weight. BMI is an indicator that a person might not be healthy, not a iron-clad guarantee. However it is established that the human body has an equilibrium with weight that it wants to maintain (in the absence of external influences), and it's believed that for most people this equilibrium is somewhere between 18.5 - 24.9 BMI. Underweight can be caused by hyperthyroidism, malnutrition, diabetes, other disease, genetics, hunger/appetite, or metabolic factors.

Specifically, underweight individuals are at greater risk of macro and micro nutrient deficiencies, and at greater risk for mental illnesses including eating disorders, depressive disorders, and body dysmorphia. The non-mental-health health concerns including bone demineralisation (which results in osteoporosis), iron deficiency (/anaemia), weakened immune system, coronary heart disease, certain ocular disorders, it can lead to digestive problems, and the body breaking down essential parts of the body (heat muscle, brain mass, etc). We don't really understand yet all the effects that it can have.

My textbook notes (although I did have a tutor vehemently deny this) that adaptive thermogenesis can raise (or lower) energy requirements to accommodate a higher (or lower) kilojoule intake. And the tutor was a dietician, so you'd think she should know that. If you want to gain weight you'll need to look to develop new eating habits that include higher energy-dense foods (either more energy at meal times or more snacks or both). Nuts and legumes are energy-dense, as are higher-fat meats and fish (beef and salmon), avocados, fruit juice, muffins. Have extra meat/dairy/discretionary foods at meal times (more ham, more bacon, more cheese, more dairy). The textbook notes that with fats prefer foods higher in poly- and mono- unsaturated fats.

No pressure, Aractus, but I REALLY need an answer to my éclair question from a nutritionist.

Boru

I'm not a nutritionist. The predominant thought among dieticians remains that weight gain is associated with high kilojoule intake. However many now argue that it is the food itself that is the problem: highly palatable food that tricks the body into ignoring the hormone signals for hunger. So it's probably best to avoid your bacon-wrapped éclair whether as a desert or an entrée.

Question #2:  I recently bought a packet of processed food (doesn't much matter what).  While reading the ingredients list, I saw that it contained '...not less than 0.02% of rehydroxylated glutonium or abstract of debentured soybean genitalia, whichever comes first.'  So, my question is:  What wine would you pair with this?

Boru

Red wine.