If you’re carrying extra weight, it’s like walking around with barbells or dumbbells attached to your body. It’s not so bad if it’s just a few pounds, but more than if you’re more than five percent overweight, it can start to affect your health. Obesity and excess weight can cause hormonal changes that even affect your metabolism, making it even harder to lose weight. One area that is often noticed by individuals is joint pain. You can imagine how damaging the excess weight is to your knees, hips and ankles every time you take a step.
Being overweight can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes.
There’s a direct relationship between being overweight and type 2 diabetes. Every eight out of ten people with diabetes are overweight. Type 2 diabetes starts with high blood sugar levels, which increase insulin levels. Over time, when the body is flooded with too high of blood glucose, the cells quit responding to the insulin because it puts stress on the endoplasmic reticulum, which is a membrane system that is inside cells. That stress causes the cells to cease opening, leaving higher sugar levels in the blood stream and causing even more insulin and this vicious circle ends in diabetes.
If you’re considering having a child, being overweight can cause complications.
Women normally gain a few extra pounds when they’re pregnant, so starting out overweight poses a double threat. It’s a factor in developing gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, blood clots, pre-eclampsia, insulin resistance, miscarriage premature birth and excessive bleeding after delivery. If your body mass index—a number arrived at by comparing your height to your weight—is over 40, your potential for one of those complications is huge. In fact, women with a BMI higher than 40 when they became pregnant had at least one of the complications.
High blood pressure and heart disease are a risk for anyone overweight.
High blood pressure often rises with your weight. It can lead to kidney damage, stroke, blood vessel damage and heart disease. It can increase your risk of heart attack, too. Excess weight increases the pressure on the artery walls so your heart has to pump harder. Obesity can also lead to high cholesterol levels, which cause arteries to block and narrow. By just losing 5 to 10% of your overall weight, you could lower your risk of heart disease and other chronic diseases significantly.
- Gallbladder disease and some types of cancers are related to being overweight. If you have too much cholesterol, gallstones can be created. The risk of some types of cancers are also increased when you’re overweight.
- Sleep apnea, which causes people to quit breathing when they sleep, is more prevalent in people who are overweight, due to the fat on their neck narrowing their airway. That causes snoring and difficulty breathing.
- Non-alcoholic liver disease, often referred to as fatty liver disease, occurs because fat builds on the liver, causing damage and scarring, which is cirrhosis. It can lead to liver failure and being overweight is a risk factor.
- Besides physical health issues, which include stroke, being overweight can take a toll on you mentally. While it shouldn’t lead to feelings of shame or guilt, it does. That often leads to depression.
For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym