The Dose Makes The Poison

My Human Physiology professor in college had a saying: “The dose makes the poison”.

What this means is that something like a medicine, for example, may have a beneficial dose, but too much can be counterproductive at best and fatal at worst.

The same is true for a lot of other beneficial factors.

For example, sun exposure is a necessary element for health, but too much sun may cause skin damage and accelerate aging.

Likewise, exercise has obvious benefits but overdoing it can lead to nervous exhaustion and injuries.

And, most importantly, food is a source of essential proteins, sugars, fats, vitamins, minerals, water, fiber and enzymes, but too much food leads to indigestion, excess weight and all of the obesity-related diseases.

How much body fat is enough?

From reading my blog posts, you would think that all fat is bad; on the contrary, some adipose tissue is necessary for the production of hormones, for padding, insulation, and obviously as a backup fuel source. So how much is enough from a health standpoint?

You don’t need to have this measured. Stand in front of a full-body mirror naked and once you get past the “eek! aah!” stage, having just enough fat to round out the musculature is plenty. Any more than that represents a love for food, not a health requirement.