Dear Health Conscious Friend,

I don’t like carrying excess weight, and by this I don’t mean luggage, I mean on my body... and especially my rear. Something about carrying those few extra kilos kills any feelings of femininity that a petite posterior emits!

But some researchers are saying that being bootyliscious might have some health benefits... I’m not quite sure if I believe them, and neither does Dr Douglass...

In the name of good health,

Taryn Strugnell
Managing Editor of Nutrition & Healing

P.S. Vitamins and minerals are essential to your health. But are some sources better than others? Dr Wright tells us what we should be doing to make sure we take the right ones.

Big bottoms for better health?
Dr William Douglass
Editor, Healthier News

The latest love-my-body nonsense claims that extra meat in the seat might be good for you... as long as you're not fat anywhere else.

C'mon - even if it is true, have you ever heard a theory as pointless as that one?

The study from the Department of Nonsense finds that gluteofemoral fat - better known as cheek meat, and I'm not talking about the cheeks on your face - can protect you from cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis and even some forms of cancer.

The research, which wasted a few pages of the International Journal of Obesity, also found that extra weight anywhere else on the body would cancel those benefits out - as if you can pick and choose your fatty deposits from a mail-order catalogue.

Want to know what's really going on here? These same butt-loving researchers also say this area needs more study.

Hello - sounds like someone's gunning for another grant. I hope they don't get too up-close and personal with their subjects.

When I see someone with a big bubble butt bouncing down the street, I don't see a healthy human being... I see a heart attack waiting to happen.

That's because those blimpy bottoms are almost always attached to Hindenburg-sized bodies... and even when they're not I can't think of a good reason to pack extra kilos on anywhere, no matter what fancy words they might have for it.

If you want to stay healthy, there's one place where you can have all the fat you want: On your plate. No one needs to add fat to the body - unless you're a dangerously underweight vegan and have recently switched back to beef.

Eat a diet rich in animal fats and proteins and you'll be lean, mean and probably smarter than the average researcher. You'll also have a lower risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease than anyone with a titanic tush.

And you won't need to shop around for a specially designed pair of pants to fit your plus-sized bottom.

The best vitamin source

Q: I read a lot about alternative medicine and I just read an article by another alternative medical doctor who claims that the body only recognises vitamins made from natural resources. I've never heard that before. What's the story?

JVW: The body recognises just about any substance you put into it. The real question is what's best for you.

Ideally, I would tell you to take vitamin supplements and other nutrients concentrated only from natural sources. Vitamins (and minerals) in nature are almost always found in conjunction with other vitamins, minerals and metabolic co-factors - vitamin C with a variety of flavonoids, for example. Since there's considerable "unity in nature", if vitamins are found with other nutrients in their natural form, it's very likely that they all work together in your body.

But unfortunately, our world is far from ideal, so, while the naturally concentrated forms of vitamins might be the best option, you shouldn't totally avoid synthetics. In many instances, they're the only sources of the higher doses your body may sometimes need.