Weight loss is one of the most prevalent worldwide goals. Most people who want to lose weight want to look better – that is their primary motivation. However, aside from looking good, losing weight has several other benefits.
This post will look at the many benefits of weight loss to your general well-being.
Why Pursue Weight Loss?
Even a slight weight loss of 5% to 10% of your body weight is expected to positively affect your health, including lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels.
As an illustration, if you start outweighing 200 pounds and lose 5% of it, you will weigh 190 pounds. Even while this weight may still be considered “overweight” or “obesity,” it can reduce your chance of getting obesity-related chronic diseases.
Even if the goal seems enormous, think of the entire objective as a journey rather than a destination. You’ll establish new eating and exercise habits to help you live healthier. These routines may eventually assist you in keeping off the weight you’ve lost.
The Benefits of Weight Loss
The Health and Wellness Spa’s weight loss program has several positive health effects. After finishing the program, many people have successfully ceased using their medications for diabetes, high blood pressure, and cholesterol.
You will also develop higher self-esteem and confidence, improving your emotional and mental health.
Keep reading to get more details about the benefits of weight loss.
Weight Loss Regulates Better Blood Sugar and Diabetes
When persons with type 2 diabetes lose weight, their insulin sensitivity increases. Adipose tissue increases due to excess body fat, which triggers inflammation and impairs insulin’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels.
Adipose tissue is reduced due to weight loss, which improves the body’s control over blood sugar. Additionally, you don’t need to lose a lot of weight to experience success. According to studies, just a 5% weight loss improved adults’ blood sugar levels.
Weight Loss Increases Mobility
Losing weight relieves pressure on knees and joints, which can increase mobility. 2012 research on obese persons with type 2 diabetes indicated that mobility restrictions, such as trouble walking or ascending stairs, might be reduced significantly by more than 7% with as little as a 1% weight loss.
Weight Loss Improves Overall Heart Health
Losing weight can help enhance heart health by lowering artery pressure, so the heart doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood throughout the body. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, or “bad” cholesterol, which might raise your risk of heart disease, is reduced as a result.
Additionally, a sizable 2020 study found that losing weight by different means – through diet and exercise or weight-loss surgery like metabolic surgery – achieves the same rewards; you’ll still benefit.
Researchers looked at obese people who either underwent weight loss surgery or reduced weight through lifestyle changes to see how it affected them. For the surgical group, the risk of heart disease dropped after a 5%–10% body weight loss, but the nonsurgical group experienced a decrease after decreasing roughly 20% in body weight.
Weight Loss Decreases Risk of Stroke
Weight gain can raise blood pressure and, thus, your risk of stroke. High blood pressure strains your blood vessels, making them stiffer and more prone to blood clots. As a result of fewer restricted blood vessels, losing weight helps the heart function more effectively.
Weight Loss Enhances Sleep Quality
A problem known as sleep apnea, which is characterized by interrupted breathing while sleeping, is more common among overweight persons. Increased fat deposits in the neck caused by being overweight can block your airways.
Losing weight won’t likely wholly cure sleep apnea in most people. However, the National Sleep Foundation reports that in moderately obese patients, decreasing merely 10% to 15% of body weight might enhance sleep quality and lessen the severity of sleep apnea.
Weight Loss Equals Higher Sex Drive
Although studies on the relationship between obesity and sex drive are still in their infancy, it has been demonstrated that weight gain raises blood levels of the sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) protein. The SHBG protein may lower your libido and free testosterone levels.
Weight Loss Improves Mental Health
While there isn’t a clear link, research indicates that it can boost confidence and mood.
To assess the psychological advantages of weight loss, a 2014 review looked at 36 studies. Subjects who lost weight showed consistent improvements in their perceptions of their bodies, sense of worth, and overall well-being.
Weight Loss Alleviates Joint Pain
Excess weight can stress, injure, and inflame joints.
A 2018 study focused on obese persons experiencing knee arthritis discomfort. Researchers discovered that decreasing 10% to 20% of body weight produced better joint function and less pain than losing just 5% of body weight, which had no discernible effects on joint discomfort.
The cause is probably due to how quickly joints deteriorate when put under added stress from being overweight. You experience pain and stiffness in the joint as the cartilage, which provides the smooth surface at the ends of bones, is worn and damaged.
Weight Loss Means Higher Energy Levels
Losing weight may also energize you during the day because it helps enhance sleep. Additionally, carrying extra weight makes it more challenging for your body to move; therefore, losing weight results in less energy needed to move around. Furthermore, it enhances respiratory performance, which may also help you feel more energized.
Weight Loss Combats Risk of Cancer
The American Cancer Society estimates that 5% of malignancies in males and 11% of cancers in women are caused by increased body weight. You run a higher risk of getting various types of cancer if you are obese, including:
- Endometrial cancer
- Breast cancer (in women past menopause)
- Kidney cancer
- Liver cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
Although the precise connection between being overweight and cancer is still unclear, researchers think inflammation brought on by visceral fat, the fat surrounding vital organs, is the cause. You may have a lower risk of getting these cancers if you lose weight.
Weight Loss Program with the Health and Wellness Medical Services
At Health and Wellness Spa, we tackle weight loss medically. To see if you qualify for our program, you must first have a 60-minute consultation with one of our board-certified nurse practitioners or doctors. Contact us at 434-933-3318 to get more details.
