The Effect
Of Weight Loss On Heart Health
Being overweight can result in an increased risk of heart
disease. In order to know if you are overweight, you need to check your body
mass index or BMI. This can be done using a BMI calculator on the internet or
by calculating it yourself, which means taking your weight in pounds and
dividing it by your height in inches squared. You then multiply that number by
703 to get your body mass index.
A body mass index of between 18 and 25 is considered normal. A
body mass index of 25 to 30 means you are overweight and a body mass index of
above 30 means you are obese.
If you are overweight or obese, you need to do what you can
to get your BMI values into the normal range. It means getting in shape through
regular exercise and eating foods that are lower in calories and fat.
A weight
loss of just 5 to 10% will greatly lessen your risk of the various types of
heart disease, including stroke, heart attacks, or peripheral vascular
disease.
Researchers who published a study in the New England Journal
of Medicine found that when you reduce the number of calories you take in, the
actual type of diet you choose isn’t as important. It means you can eat a low
fat diet, a low carb diet, or a high protein diet, as long as the total calorie
count is below that which sustains your weight.
An average person needs between 2000 and 2500 calories per
day to sustain their weight. If you can reduce the number of calories you take
in per day to 500 calories less than your baseline, you can lose up to a pound
of body weight per day, regardless of where you choose to reduce those calories.
It isn’t as much about a specific balance of carbs, protein,
or fat but depends on the total caloric count per day. Also, keep in mind that
if you become very physically active you can actually eat more calories daily
and still lose weight.
.
The Role of
Exercise
Besides decreasing your calorie count by 500 calories per
day, you can increase your level of exercise.
You can do this by running, brisk walking, cycling, swimming,
or any other activity you enjoy that raises your heart rate and respiratory
rate. This is called aerobic exercise and should be done about thirty minutes a
day 3 to 4 times per week. There are other methods you can apply. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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How Does
The Heart Respond To Weight Loss?
If you lose just ten percent of your body weight (which is
twenty pounds for those who weigh 200 pounds already), your heart will respond
accordingly and these things will happen:
·
Y Your blood
vessels will be more elastic.
T The blood vessels will be less
narrow and will be more elastic when you exercise. This reduces the workload on
your heart and will take the stress away so your heart can function more
effectively. There will be less fat in your arteries, which collects on the
lining of blood vessels, forming plaques that narrow the arteries and can
increase the chances that a blood clot will close off the arteries, causing
strokes, peripheral vascular disease, and heart attacks.
·
Your blood
pressure will be lower.
There is a direct connection between your weight and
blood pressure. The lower your weight, the lower is the risk of developing
hypertension, which can lead to heart disease. Exercise also lowers blood
pressure, which is another reason to include exercise as part of your weight
loss program. You can also take medications for hypertension that might need to
be reduced if you can successfully lose some weight
.
·
Your blood
lipids will be lower. The amount of lipids in your blood will be lower when
you lose weight. Losing weight can decrease your triglyceride level, can raise
your HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol), and can lower your LDL cholesterol
(the bad cholesterol. All of these changes will improve your heart health
.
·
Blood clots
will diminish.If you lose weight, it is less likely that you will develop
blood clots, which means that your chances of having a blood clot close off an
artery will decrease and the chance that a blood clot in your leg could break
off, resulting in it travelling to your lungs, brain, and heart.
·
Your belly
fat will go down. It turns out that the amount of fat you retain around
your belly greatly increases the risk of heart disease. In a study out of the journal,Cardiology showed that belly fat could
contribute to heart disease, even in people who are otherwise of a normal
weight. Weight loss around the belly can reduce your risk of developing this
complication. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
We talk later
.
E Enjoy your stay.
g Gakwe Bernard Chikere
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