Maintaining a healthy weight is important for health. In addition to lowering the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and high blood pressure, it can also lower the risk of many different cancers.
Move more, eat less. Turning off the television and skipping the sugary drinks are two ways to get started.
Your weight, your waist size, and the amount of weight gained since your mid-20s can have serious health implications. These factors can strongly influence your chances of developing the following diseases and conditions:
- Cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Arthritis
- Gallstones
- Asthma
- Cataracts
- Infertility
- Snoring
- Sleep apnea
If your weight is in the healthy range and isn’t more than 10 pounds over what you weighed when you turned 21, focus on maintaining that weight by watching what you eat and exercising.
Because most adults between the ages of 18 and 49 gain 1-2 pounds each year, stopping and preventing weight gain should be a priority. Gaining weight as you age increases the chances of developing one or more chronic diseases.
Middle-aged women and men who gained 11 to 22 pounds after age 20 were up to three times more likely to develop heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and gallstones than those who gained five pounds or fewer.
Those who gained more than 22 pounds had an even larger risk of developing these diseases.
Another analysis found that adult weight gain – even after menopause – can increase the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer.
Encouragingly, for women who had never used hormone replacement therapy, losing weight after menopause – and keeping it off – cut their risk of post-menopausal breast cancer in half.
Does Being Overweight Reduce Mortality?
You may have seen news coverage of a study claiming that being overweight and obese may reduce mortality but a panel of experts discussed why the general public should not rely on these flawed study findings.
The main flaw of this study is that the normal weight group, which showed an increased mortality risk compared to the overweight group, included more heavy smokers, patients with cancer or other diseases that cause weight loss, and elderly people suffering from frailty. There was no distinction made between these unhealthy normal weight people and lean healthy individuals. The overweight and obese groups did appear to have a lower mortality rate than this mix of healthy and very unhealthy normal weighted individuals, and this flaw led to false conclusions that overweight and grade 1 obesity carry no risk and may offer reduced mortality.
What Causes Weight Gain?
- Diet: The quantity and quality of food in your diet has a strong impact on weight.
- Genes: Some people are genetically predisposed to gain weight more easily than others or to store fat around the midsection.
Genes do not have to become destiny, however, and studies suggest that eating a healthy diet, staying active, and avoiding unhealthy habits like drinking soda can prevent the genetic predisposition to risk for obesity.
- Physical inactivity: Exercising has a host of health benefits, including reducing the chances of developing heart disease, some types of cancer, and other chronic diseases. Physical activity is a key element of weight control and health.
- Sleep: Research suggests that there’s a link between how much people sleep and how much they weigh. In general, children and adults who get too little sleep tend to weigh more than those who get enough sleep.
For example, in one Study researchers followed roughly 60,000 women for 16 years. At the start of the study, all of the women were healthy, and none were obese; 16 years later, women who slept 5 hours or less per night had a 15 percent higher risk of becoming obese, compared to women who slept 7 hours per night. Short sleepers also had 30 percent higher risk of gaining 30 pounds over the course of the study, compared to women who got 7 hours of sleep per night.
There are several possible ways that sleep deprivation could increase the chances of becoming obese.
- Sleep-deprived people may be too tired to exercise, decreasing the “calories burned” side of the weight-change equation.
- People who don’t get enough sleep may take in more calories than those who do, simply because they are awake longer and have more opportunities to eat.
- Lack of sleep also disrupts the balance of key hormones that control appetite, so sleep-deprived people may be hungrier than those who get enough rest each night.
What You Can Do?
Maintaining a healthy weight is not always easy. The key to success is making changes in daily eating and physical activity habits that can be maintained over one’s lifetime.
Our weight is a result of the combination of the energy one takes in (through foods and beverages) and the energy their body uses (through engaging in physical activity). To lose weight, an individual needs to use more calories than they consume. To maintain a healthy weight, one needs to balance the calories they use with those they take in. Some ways to create a caloric deficit are:
- Spend less time in sedentary activities (e.g., watching television, internet surfing)
- Engage in daily physical activities (e.g., walking, bicycling, gardening, housework)
- Eat more fruits and vegetables and reduce food portion sizes.
An interesting study has highlighted gender difference amongst people trying to reach their ideal body weight. According to a study, women tend to consider ideal weight for their height and age lesser than what is medically recommended. This forces them to resort to yo-yo diets to achieve their target. On the other hand, men tend to lean towards the higher range, and to achieve that they work on building more muscle through supplements or a high protein diet.
You can get your ideal body weight that is specific to your age, body type and lifestyle without having to starve yourself by following the balanced healthy diet and regular workout.
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Unsaturated fats are an important part of a healthy diet. The two main types of unsaturated fats are monounsaturated fats (found in olive and canola oil, avocados, cashews and almonds) and polyunsaturated fats like omega-3 fats (found in oily fish) or omega-6 fats (found in safflower and soybean oil and Brazil nuts).
Vegetables and legumes – raw or cooked vegetables can be used as a snack food or as a part of lunch and dinner. Salad vegetables can be used as a sandwich filling. Vegetable soup can make a healthy lunch. Stir-fries, vegetable patties and vegetable curries make nutritious evening meals. Try raw vegetables like carrot and celery sticks for a snack ‘on the run’.
Fruit – this is easy to carry as a snack and can be included in most meals. For example, try a banana with your breakfast cereal, an apple for morning tea and add some berries in your yoghurt for an afternoon snack. Fresh whole fruit is recommended over fruit juice and dried fruit. Fruit juice contains less fibre than fresh fruit and both fruit juice and dried fruit, and are more concentrated sources of sugar and energy. Dried fruit can also stick to teeth, which can increase the risk of dental caries.
Lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, legumes and tofu – these can all provide protein. It’s easy to include a mixture of protein into snacks and meals. Try adding lean meat to your sandwich or have a handful of nuts as a snack. You can also add legumes to soups or stews for an evening meal.
Milk, yoghurt and cheese – try adding yogurt to breakfast cereal with milk, or using cottage cheese as a sandwich filling. Shavings of parmesan or cheddar can be used to top steamed vegetables or a salad. Use mostly reduced fat products.
