While many people diet and exercise to shed excess body and improve their outward appearance, the benefits associated with weight loss run more than skin deep.
Excess weight and obesity are associated with numerous serious health conditions, such as insulin resistance, cancer, type-2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, stroke, infertility, osteoarthritis, joint and back pain, and depression.
Thankfully, you can often prevent or correct these conditions with a combination of regular exercise, a nutritious, calorie-controlled diet and a comprehensive supplement plan.
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The health benefits
Numerous weight-loss studies show that when patients lose between 5-10% of their body weight, they can effectively lower their blood pressure, reduce ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol levels, and reduce their risk of diabetes by lowering insulin levels and improving insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance.
Those who successfully lose weight can also lower their risk of cardiovascular disease as levels of inflammatory substances circulating in the blood drop significantly, which reduces the risk of vascular damage that can cause strokes or heart disease.
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The visceral fat factor
We can attribute many of these health benefits to reduced visceral fat. Also known as organ or intra-abdominal fat, visceral fat encases major vital organs in the abdominal cavity, including the stomach, liver, intestines and kidneys.
Overweight individuals with a pear or apple shape have excessive fat deposits in their mid-sections, which tends signify higher levels of organ fat.
This can wreak havoc with your endocrine system and is, therefore, closely associated with the metabolic dysfunction linked to obesity.
Visceral body fat also produces more pro-inflammatory substances (called cytokines) and less adiponectin, a beneficial hormone that makes the liver and muscles more insulin sensitive than white fat cells. Accordingly, reducing the fat around your organs can deliver outsized health benefits.
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Reduce injury risk
Bringing your body weight back within medically-approved target ranges (generally measured in terms of your body mass index, or BMI – your ideal weight for your height) also places less stress on your joints and the supporting structures in your body, like ligaments and tendons.
This often reduces the likelihood or severity of injuries or joint pain, if not alleviating it completely. The most common joint pain reported by overweight individuals is knee and lower back pain.
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Improved cognitive function
And weight loss can also improve sleep quality by helping to reduce sleep apnea and alleviating other sleep problems.
This can boost energy levels, focus and cognitive function, while also reducing feelings of perceived exertion.
And on the cognitive front, excess visceral fat may also increase your risk of brain disorders like dementia. For example, a study conducted by healthcare company Kaiser Permanente showed that those who had the most belly fat were 145% more likely to develop dementia compared with people with the least amount of belly fat.
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A psychological boost
There are also other, less tangible benefits to significant weight loss, not least of which are greater self-worth, enhanced self-confidence, and a general feeling of wellbeing and vitality, which all equates to a better quality of life.
For instance, it is not uncommon for overweight individuals to experience chronic fatigue, depression and general lethargy.
These conditions are often reversed and the positive benefits amplified when you exercise regularly, as this helps to strengthen and improve your cardiorespiratory and cardiovascular systems, enhances mobility and improves your functional strength.
So, whether you’ve got an apple or a pear-shaped body, if enhancing your outward appearance wasn’t enough motivation to change your lifestyle, keep in mind that your weight-loss efforts can also significantly improve your health. It’s a win-win!
Author: Pedro van Gaalen
When he’s not writing about sport or health and fitness, Pedro is probably out training for his next marathon or ultra-marathon. He’s worked as a fitness professional and as a marketing and comms expert. He now combines his passions in his role as managing editor at Fitness magazine.
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