Fun Clips

At the grocery store, Mrs. Potato meets her friend Mona, who has lost weight through liposuction. However, some unexpected physical exertion makes Mrs. Potato realize that she is in much better shape than her friend. This is because Mrs. Potato lost weight by eating well and exercising. Her friend did neither, and the liposuction only removed the good subcutaneous fat, not the bad intra-abdominal fat!

Mr. Potato goes for his annual medical checkup with Dr. Cheese. The good doctor is pleased with his patient’s metabolic profile (decreased blood pressure and triglycerides, increased HDL, normalized blood glucose), which has likely improved due to loss of intra-abdominal fat, as revealed by the drop in Mr. Potato’s waistline.

One morning in the bathroom, Mrs. Potato, who has been eating well and exercising, is upset by her weight. However, she learns that she should measure her waistline—and not necessarily rely on the scale—to track her loss of intra-abdominal fat, the bad fat. She also learns that she did not lose weight because she in fact gained muscle.

While sitting in the cafeteria one lunch hour, Dr. Cheese starts wondering about the clinical use of the metabolic syndrome and whether abdominal obesity is its cause or a feature. Much to the amazement of Dr. Cheese and Dr. Meatball, Nurse Carrot responds that although insulin resistance can cause metabolic abnormalities, in clinical practice most individuals with insulin resistance have abdominal obesity and are therefore at increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Mr. Potato is recovering from an acute coronary syndrome. During a routine visit to Mr. Potato’s room, Dr. Cheese describes Mr. Potato’s case to his colleagues. Mr. Potato’s lipid profile is still borderline and his blood pressure is high. However, Nurse Carrot insists that Mr. Potato should do more to decrease his waist line, which is another vital indicator that should be used to better assess his cardiometabolic risk.