Health Benefits of Losing Weight

Weight Loss and its Health Benefits

You are most likely to be at the peak of your health when you are in your best shape. This means that your weight is balanced with your height. More than 40% of the American population is overweight, some are even considered obese. You are obese when you go beyond the normal body mass index (BMI) - a way to measure body fat. If your BMI exceeds 30 then you are already obese.

But, why do people become overweight? Actually, it is a combination of heredity, unhealthy habits and behavior and health problems. Some of which are:

•       weight problems in your family
•       eating when you are feeling bored, stressed or lonely
•       eating because you are pressured to eat by your family or friends
•       eating for the sake of eating or just because there is food available
•       there are medicines that make you feel hungry and taking them would make you earn those extra pounds
•       certain problems in your hormones cause your slow metabolism rate

When you are fit, this not only helps you to move quicker but it also prevents you from developing chronic diseases. Being in shape also makes you livelier and more cheerful in your everyday life.

So, what do you get from being in shape?
Here some of the health benefits you should know about that may convince you to trim down:


1.      Reduce your risk of suffering from the two major killers – heart disease and stroke. Both are the leading causes of disability and death among men and women. For overweight people, they are most likely to experience:

•       high blood pressure
•       higher levels of cholesterol and blood fats
•       angina or the condition which involves chest pain due to lack of oxygen to the heart
•       death without warning due to heart disease or stroke

Even as low as 5% weight loss can improve and eliminate your health risks.

2.      Weight loss can help you either prevent or manage type 1 and 2 diabetes. Both types promise complications that threaten your life. Maintaining your weight at a healthy level can prevent you from developing the first type of diabetes. While if you already have the disease, being in shape will help you manage your blood sugar levels. This will also result to a reduce in your medication.

3.      Having that normal weight will keep you safe from certain kinds of cancer like the uterus, cervix, gallbladder, ovary, breast and colon. Exercise and maintaining a well-balanced diet can increase your chances of being free from cancer.

4.      Being overweight, you may become a candidate of chronic snoring or even worst. Snoring can be a symptom of a more serious sleep disorder. Sleep apnea is a condition that causes a cessation in breathing for a couple of seconds but can recur up to 300 times in just one night. If this happens, naturally, you will be sleepy during daytime and this may lead to heart failure. Reducing weight will help you prevent sleep apnea.

5.      Being overweight can be very painful, therefore, you should lessen your possibility of developing Osteoarthritis. If you are in good shape then you do not have to worry about this painful condition. Osteoarthritis is a joint disorder that inflicts pain to the joints in your hips, knees and lowers back. This happens because the extra pounds you carry put pressure on your joints causing the pain. Maintaining your normal weight will lessen the pain.

6.      Another joint disorder that is associated with being overweight is the gout. This is characterized by high levels of uric acid in the blood. Losing weight can be helpful but it is trickier for those who have a history of gout because certain types of food easily trigger gout attacks. Thus, consulting your doctor is very important before enrolling in a weight loss program especially if you are already experiencing gout.

7.      Gallbladder stones and other related diseases are more common to develop if you are overweight. But again, like gout, you need to consult your physician first so you will be given an appropriate diet especially for you.

Other diseases that can easily aggravate if you are overweight are respiratory-related diseases like asthma.

People who are into sports, gym training and other active endeavors do not only do this for the sake of seeing their six packs in the mirror or their pear-shape bodies but rather they are more convinced that being fit keeps them healthy and assures them of a disease-free life.