Friday, August 7, 2009

Why You Must Lose Weight - The 5 Deadly Dangers to Your Health by Being Overweight

Obesity not only makes you look bad, but it also poses a health risk. Being overweight creates extra stress on the body. Your cardiovascular system, endocrine system, digestive system, nervous system, and more have to work that much harder when you're carrying extra weight. Try carrying a 20lb weight with you wherever you go for a few hours. Isn't that tiring?

Although you may feel fine now, the extra weight places strain on all of your body systems. In fact, you may be prone to developing one or more of the following problems when you're overweight:

1. Cancer
The link between being overweight and having cancer is a little unclear at the moment, but it's hard to argue with the following statistics:

A. Being 20lbs overweight before menopause, doubles the risk of contracting cancer in postmenopausal women.
B. Half of all breast cancer cases are in obese women.

2. Diabetes
About 80% of folks with type 2 diabetes are obese. Sadly, overweight kids are now getting type 2 diabetes (which used to be only associated with adults). The goods news is that reducing your weight by 10lbs can reduce your risk of developing cancer by 30%. Reducing your weight aids in reducing blood glucose levels which improves the condition of diabetes by improving your sensitivity to insulin. The weight loss may be enough to free diabetics from needing to take medication.

3. Heart Disease
Nearly 70% of the diagnosed cases of heart disease can be traced by to being overweight. A weight gain of 20lbs doubles your risk of heart disease. Reducing your weight by 5 to 10lbs can increase levels of HDL and decrease levels of LDL, which are substances related to the occurrence of heart disease.

4. Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
Being obese more than doubles your chances of developing high blood pressure. Stats show that over 70% of all obese folks have high blood pressure. Loosing 5-10lbs can produce significant benefits and may eliminate the need to take medications.

5. Osteoarthritis
Being overweight increases the risk of getting this painful disease of degeneration of your bones and cartilage. Decreasing weight by 10-15lbs decreases the risk of developing arthritis by the time your reach the age of 50.

There are a myriad of other diseases (example - sleep apnea, asthma, bladder issue, depression, gout, menstrual irregularities, pregnancy complication, stroke, etc...) that can occur when you are overweight. So the benefits of trimming off a few pounds goes well beyond the cosmetic issues. Even a small weight loss can greatly improve your health, not to mention boost your self esteem and confidence.

Mia LeCron has been writing articles online for nearly 5 years now. Not only does this author specialize in diet, fitness, and weight loss, but you can also check out her latest website on the T3 Hair Dryer which reviews the best T3 (Tourmaline Based) Hair Dryer. You can check it out for yourself at http://www.T3HairDryerSale.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mia_LeCron