Obesity Health Risks | Side Effects of Obesity | Tips to Reduce Overweight

Posted on February 14, 2010 by Salina in Weight Loss and Diet

Obesity Injurious to Health

Studies quote that obesity is as injurious to health as smoking. Researchers at the Columbia University and the City College of New York have calculated that the quality adjusted life years lost due to obesity are equal to, if not greater than those lost due to smoking.

Obesity in Women

A female having an abdominal girth of 35 inches or more, and a male, having a girth of 40 inches or more, is at a potential risk of developing diabetes and heart disorders.

Causes of Obesity

  • Dietary errors: Irregular diet pattern, eating the wrong foods, and not sticking to meal timings all come under dietary errors.
    Fatty and greasy foods cause the blood sugar levels to rise steeply. The blood sugar balance is completely disrupted. A see saw like pattern develops and these fluctuating levels of bloods sugar are a huge culprit, and are cause of weight gain.
  • Stress: An exposure to constant and persistent stress has several deleterious effects. As a consequence of constant stress, the hormone cortisol is always on the rise. cortisol is a stress hormone, that helps us cope better with the stressful situation. It increases your appetite. Increased appetite and increased cravings find their way to the belly region and start getting deposited.
  • No physical activity: No or poor physical activity and exercise coupled with a sedentary lifestyle, spell doom. Exercise regulates the BMR (basal metabolic rate), it balances the hormone cortisol, and most importantly, it breaks up the fat cells and moves them back in to circulation to be burnt.
  • Inadequate sleep: Research supports the fact that those who sleepless have bigger waist lines and are overweight, as compared to their counter parts who sleep well.

How to Reduce Body Fat?

  • Get your diet re-vamped. Re-structure and reorganize it. A visit to a nutritionist or a fitness expert will be highly profitable for you. These professionals plan out your diet and constantly keep re-inventing it, so that it does not get monotonous. They take in to account your likes and dislikes, and determine your ideal body weight for you.
  • Fix meal timings and stick to them.
  • Let your snacks comprise of fresh fruits, salads, nuts, and vegetable juices. Don’t snack on fried and greasy foods.
  • Never wait to it till you’re very hungry. That would make you grab the nearest thing available, and which may not be a healthy option. Plan you meal well in advance, and eat every 3 to 4 hours.
  • Avoid fasting. Fasting makes the blood sugar and blood pressure levels fluctuate terribly.
  • Choose foods that have low glycemic indices. The foods that top the list are – celery, strawberries, watermelons, buttermilk, almonds, and papayas. You can snack on these foods all day long, at regular time intervals.
  • Most importantly, don’t skip exercise. Even a 30 minute walk will do wonders for your body. Walking is a whole body exercise. It boosts your metabolism and burns loads of calories.

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