I've been wondering about the articles I read where body type indicates your risk of getting diabetes.

I have a strong family history, including 2 (53 & 63 yrs old) siblings both diagnosed several years ago. Both were diagnosed in their early 40's. I'm 50 now and still haven't been diagnosed. Even before LC, and believe me I had a VERY high carb intake, my FBS was always under 100.

I carry some weight in my abdomen, but mostly it's lower body.....hips and legs. I'm not very busty and while I do have a belly, for my weight it's not as big as you'd expect. When I first started gaining weight, it was in my hips and thighs, while my brother and sister both gained in the belly first. I'm a pear, they're apples! LOL

So....what shape are you all?

CindySue:
Good for you. Studies show that being a pear shaped, with the smaller upper body and mostly of the weight concentrated in the lower body, is an evidence that you won't develop DM in future, au contrary, apple shape is strongly associated with IR and DM. I'm hourglass shaped, my weight is distributed evenly between my upper and lower body and I always had a well defined waist, even at 194, my heaviest. I've used to be easy gainer but the weight would come off fast as soon as I cut my calories. But I've developed DM in my early 40s, my FBG was slighly elevated already 4 years ago despite moderate carb diet, and i was dx in 2002 based on FBG . On the other hand one of my siblings, who was apple shaped since I remeber her, carried lot's of extra weight to the point of being obese, was dx with diabetes in her late 70s and it's very mild and well controlled with just a moderate low carb diet. Go figure.
Regards,
Dina

I'm definitely an apple shape and have been since I was very small. I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 25 (although I likely had it since shortly after puberty since my periods were never regular) and type 2 diabetes when I was 30.
Even at a very low weight (I weighed 112 pounds my freshman year of high school), I have an undefined waist and tend to be stocky in the middle; even at 112 pounds, I wore a junior size 9 and sizes ran smaller then than they do now.

Well I took the poll too, even tho I'm not diabetic.

I've always read that there was an association, but then most people seem to be apple shape! And as far as I know being a pear doesn't mean I won't get DM, just that I'm not as likely.

I'm doing LC because of my family history, I'm not taking any chances!

PS....my mom, who had every sibling, aunt and uncle had diabetes was always underweight....until she went on LF at the age of about 60. But she was never diagnosed...but she also died of cancer at age 76....maybe if she lived another 10 yrs she would have been. Her two sisters were diagnosed before they turned 40....both definite apples. Actually, most of my mom's family are apple shape....except me, mom and my daughter. (I'm a pear, they're both underweight) My dad's family are all pears and not a single diabetic amoung them!

same old question, what was first, an egg or a chicken, is weight gain causes diabetes or diabetes and IR makes us gain weight? many sources point out that not all overweight and even obese ppl develop diabetes, even if they are apple shape. when first dx i felt like asking every single women my age who is a bit overweight, if she has diabetes, and many of my co-workers who are much havier and carry weight around midsection turned out to have absolutely normal GT an not even pre-diabetic. also, i never had probelms with PCOS or irregular period, neither I was a hefty child, rather too skiny. anyway, a pear shaped women much less likely to have DM compare to other shapes, and I think because they are born with stronger insulin receptors, while apple shaped are apple shaped becuase of may be faulty insulin receptors, which turnes into IR later in life. not sure what made me diabetic, same faulty receptors, may be?

Sounds like the chicken (or would it be the egg?) came first from a recent report I heard on GMA (Good Morning America).

Dr Tim JOhnson, their medical guy, talked about a woman that was Dx'd with DM then had her abdominal fat surgically removed and was no longer diabetic! According to the report the only thing that changed was removing the fat, her diet remained the same....but her BS was within normal range after removing the fat!

This was strictly a test, not a plan for treatment, and her BS improved dramatically after having the abdominal fat removed.

I'll see if I can find a written report and post it here.

I've read about it too, and they refer to a vesceral fat, not sucutaneous like a regular lipo. the vesceral fat deposits deep inside abdominal cavity and it's actually what give man so called "pot" bellies and women apple shape while the rest of teh body is relatively slim. so they use sort of lipo to remove this fat surrounding liver and pancrease? not sure what the procedure, but seemed very effective to get rid of diabetes or at least, lower BGs. vesceral fat is also supporting our internal organs and nourish them during famine. some articles claim that this type of fat is what we are losing first, while dieting, and it shows with inches lost. so, may be vesceral fat loss does help with BGs control, this explains why many ppl benefit from weight loss in diabetes control.
Here are some related articles:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/a...l_prompts_hope/
http://www.defeatdiabetes.org/Articles/fat021101.htm

I'm very apple shaped and have been since I was old enough to have a shape. I was first diagnosed with diabetes at age 39, when I was reasonably active (in terms of exercise) yet about 40 pounds overweight. My sister, who is a pear, does not have diabetes even though she is more overweight than I have ever been, she is not very active, and she had gestational diabetes with her second child (who weighed over 10 pounds at birth). There is a strong history of diabetes on both sides of my family. My father is diabetic as was his father (who had both feet amputated). On my mother's side, my uncle developed type II diabetes at age 41 even though he had never been overweight a day in his life; my mother also has cousins with diabetes. Ironically, my mother herself does not have diabetes even though she is overweight and has always been very pear shaped. (I inherited my shape from her.)

I've lost about 35 pounds in the past three years. Almost none of it has been from my waist and torso. Now, I have a big bust and mid-section, with very skinny arms and legs. As I've lost weight, my hip-to-waist ratio has gotten worse. When I lost just about every spare ounce of fat in my arms and legs, I stopped losing weight and my weight loss stalled. Even though I exercise and attend Curves regularly, this stubborn apple fat doesn't want to leave me.

....The shape.....this is a myth !- like all other myth !
...BUT "strong family history"....it is not!!!
.....and that is...the one and only reason...you should take care of yourself.....................best wishes

Picaboo, I'm not sure that I'd be too quick to write off the "apple shape increases risk of type 2 diabetes" as a myth. There is, at the very least, a strong correlation between having an apple shape (meaning that you tend to carry most of your fat in your abdomen) and developing diabetes.
There is also a strong correlation between apple shapes and insulin resistance.
Now, I'll be the first to admit that correlation does not necessarily indicate causation but in this case, I beleive that there's certainly something to it.

CarolynC:
Have you considered Relacor or Relora, check out Nutriotion and Supplements thread on the forum, looks like it helps to reduce abdominal fat. Sometimes, diet and exercise is not enough no matter how hard we try, especially if in precense of stong metabolic tendencies. I'll try to search more on Relacor and see if I can find more positive references.
Cheers,
Dina

Picaboo:
IMHO, body shape is a reflection of the metabolic processes inside our bodies, so I think it's not a myth. and it's especially true when it comes to women.
apple shape means higher level of insulin to begin with. it means that weight will be accumulated in a so called "male" pattern, arround midsection, because high insulin level in female body is associated with higher level of androgens, male steroid hormnes and thus is the "male" like body shape. most women develop this during and after menopause but some are genetically predispositioned be apple shaped starting from puberty. http://www.bmi-calculator.net/waist...-body-shape.php
Regards,
Dina

Thanks for the suggestion, but I tried Cortislim for three months in late 2003. Like Relacor, it is supposed to reduce abdmoninal fat by lowering cortisol levels. Cortislim, combined with diet and exercise, gave me absolutely no change in waist/abdominal measurement and no weight loss. It lightened me of over $100, but nothing else.

I'm pear shaped, and I'm also type 2.

I think while there is a positive correlation between apple shapes and tendency toward being insulin resistant & diabetic, there isn't necessarily a negative correlation between female pear shapes and being insulin resistant & diabetic. I should think that carrying obese excess weight anywhere on your body should signify that such individuals have some sort of glucose metabolism problem caused by or related to insulin resistance. All shape says is how likely it is that you have the condition; overweight & apple is most likely, however overweight & pear is probably more likely than well-distributed & normal weight.

Personally I am pear shaped, and non-diabetic. However I am certain I have insulin resistance, or at least some sort of related condition as I have PCOS and do very poorly on a high or even moderate carb diet for numerous reasons. Though I've never had them tested I am certain from the symptoms I experienced that my insulin levels were definitely very high before LC. Maybe the fact that I tend to gain most of my weight in my thighs and butt should be taken as a sign that I won't get DM. However, I tend to think the other symptoms I have (PCOS and observable metabolic unwellness when eating a "normal" diet) overrule that, thus putting me at high risk. The fact that I tend to gain so much weight, irregardless of where it is stored, should be a pretty good symptom that something is wrong with me metabolically.