4 Heart-Healthy Swaps for Your Diet
Learning how to eat healthy can be one of the most challenging tasks to master, especially if your go-to snack is decadent or salty. Read on for some healthy swaps to get started on a healthier you.
The Many Benefits of Weight Loss
Whether you’re online streaming your favorite cable series, listening to the radio, or watching TV, chances are you’re bombarded with ads for fitness programs, trendy diets, or some reimagined weight loss program guaranteeing you quick results.
Why? Obesity is a global public health issue, which has almost tripled since 1975. In the United States about 42.5% of adults age 20 and older are obese, 9% of which are suffering from severe obesity. Another 31.1% are overweight.
Carrying around excess weight and wanting to lose weight aren’t simply about body image. In this blog, the team of physicians, registered dieticians, fitness experts, and counselors at Cardio Metabolic Institute discuss the many health benefits of medically supervised weight loss.
Weight gain explained
If you’ve ever tried losing weight on your own, you know that resolving weight gain isn’t always a simple matter of adjusting fuel intake (food) and expending energy (exercise). Body metabolism and losing weight can be complicated.
Many factors can come into play, such as anxiety, stress, water retention, and chemical imbalances like thyroid problems and hormonal imbalances. But don’t give up. Getting your weight under control is so worth it. For some folks, it literally can save your life by lowering your risk for developing a whole host of chronic diseases.
Here are some of the many health benefits of losing that extra weight.
Lowers blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides
When you think about the typical metrics that a doctor uses to evaluate your overall health, your blood pressure usually ranks at the top, followed by your cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Your blood pressure tells your doctor just how hard your heart has to work to pump blood through your body. Cholesterol and triglyceride levels indicate how many fatty acids are in your blood.
What do issues with high blood pressure and high cholesterol and triglycerides have in common? Two important things: They all put you at a higher risk for having a heart attack and stroke, and you can lower them by losing weight.
Reduces risk for heart disease
In the United States, one person dies every 36 seconds from cardiovascular disease, which makes heart disease the No. 1 cause of death across the board for men and women, regardless of race and ethnicity. High blood pressure and high cholesterol and triglycerides are leading indicators of heart disease.
Maintaining a healthy weight is a crucial prevention factor for heart disease.
Lowers risk for developing diabetes
When it comes to diabetes, losing weight has two important prevention roles. It not only lowers your risk for developing diabetes in the first place, but it also benefits those who already suffer from diabetes — a number that includes 34.2 million Americans — by mitigating their risks for developing heart disease.
Similar to the issues related to high blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides, the risk factors for diabetes are all about your ability to efficiently move blood through the body. When you have diabetes, your body is consistently operating with higher than normal blood sugar levels caused by low insulin production or the inability to properly use the insulin produced.
High blood sugar can damage blood vessels as well as damage the nerves that control the heart. And this can lead to heart disease.
Our team can guide you to healthy, lasting results
Regardless of whether you have 10 pounds or 100 pounds to lose, modest weight loss such as 5% of your body weight can reap big long-term health benefits when it comes to the prevention of chronic diseases. And you’ll feel great and look even better.
At our Wellness and Fitness Center, we take a holistic approach to healthy living and weight loss. We believe that permanent weight loss happens when you gain a better understanding of your unique weight loss challenges and buy into making lifestyle changes like eating healthier and becoming more active.
It’s not going to happen overnight, but we’re here to support you with every step. Our team guides and encourages you as you steadily improve your overall health while losing those extra pounds.
If you’re ready to embark on your journey to a slimmer, healthier you and want to learn more about our medically supervised weight loss program, schedule a consultation at Cardio Metabolic Institute in Somerset, Monroe Township, or East Brunswick, New Jersey. Click or call today for an appointment at the office nearest you.
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