Why Lose Weight?
We all want to lose weight so we can look great at the beach. But what if I told you there are more benefits to losing weight than just being skinny and being able to wear the swimsuit you want? Many of these benefits improve your health in more ways than you may have realized including: improving your mood, having more natural energy, having less pain, reducing the risks of arthritis, improving your immune system, sleeping better, improving your memory, and having a better sense of taste. Let’s jump in and learn more about each of these.
Losing weight improves your mood
Did you know that when losing weight your mood can improve? There is the confidence aspect of liking how you look of course but there are also some chemical responses that happen inside your body as well. People who are overweight experience depression, which then leads to not wanting to do the appropriate steps to lose that weight which then can lead to more depression, leading to a vicious cycle. This depression is caused by not getting the appropriate nutrition in your body, of which having the correct number of vitamins and minerals are very important in regulating needed body functions, including your hormones. We all know that one person who decided to skip breakfast and lunch and is now acting hangry. Well there is a reason behind being angry when you are hungry and it has to do with that hormone control. When you go without eating for too long, your blood sugar drops. To get your blood sugar back to normal, your body releases the hormones cortisol and epinephrine of which these hormones cause you to feel irritable. Prolonged periods of being in this “hangry” state can have a seriously negative effect on your body and can lead into chronic depression if not taken care of. Need proof? A study published in the scientific article, “Food and Mood: The Corresponsive Effect” concluded that the food we eat affects our mood, as well as our mood affecting the food we eat. Once you lose weight the healthy way and start eating healthy regularly, many of these problems can be solved and your mood will improve.
You will naturally have more energy
When losing weight you will become less tired as your body is now under less stress. When losing weight from a proper diet, you will also be more disciplined to be eating healthier and more regularly, staying hydrated, exercising, and cutting down on sugar, all of which are going to give you a lot more energy. When you’re on a proper diet, you will be getting more of the nutrients that your body needs including B-vitamins, vitamins that specialize in providing energy for the body.
You will have less joint pain and can lessen the effects of arthritis
A clinical trial published in the National Library of Medicine shows that losing even just 1 pound of weight can reduce 4 pounds of pressure on knee joints. When you are overweight, you are putting more weight and stress on those joints. Excess stress on the joints can lead to osteoarthritis, which is a reduction in the amount of cartilage tissue in the joints. This reduction results in bones rubbing on other bones. One of the best ways to reverse joint pain is to maintain a healthy weight. Other great ways are staying active, drinking plenty of water, stretching regularly, eating nutrient dense foods, and avoiding repetitive movements.
Your immune system will improve
When you start eating healthier and losing weight, your body becomes stronger in its defenses and will repair itself when needed. You’ll notice less fatigue, less allergies, easier and better breathing, and even a lower risk of cancer. Of these health improvements, the most interesting is allergies. Having extra weight can put stress on the adrenal glands and respiratory system, which in return can worsen allergy symptoms.
You’ll sleep better
People who aren’t eating healthy are often eating foods that are a quick fix (high energy simple carb foods such as french fries, donuts, or cookies) rather than foods that provide a long term fullness after eating (such as complex carbohydrates like fruits and vegetables). Doing this can lead to hunger at night which in turn can lead to poor sleep quality, which has been linked to many problems with the body including heartburn, inflammation, bloating, gas, sleep apnea, and snoring. The best way to reverse these negative effects is to start eating healthy! Eating healthy and losing weight can reduce diseases that hinder sleep, and experts say that losing just 5% of your body weight can significantly reduce these issues. Want to learn some more ways that sleep can impact your weight loss? Check out our blog about Sleep’s impact on weight loss!
You’ll have improved memory
Losing weight improves your memory. In a study done by Science Daily, there were significant improvements in memory retention and creating new memories in a group of women who went on a diet plan and lost weight from it compared to a control group that did not go on a diet plan. When you are not eating healthy, you are often not getting the appropriate nutrition you need for your brain health. Many of the foods we eat that add weight on our bodies oftentimes do not have the appropriate nutrients our bodies need for proper brain function. Lots of diets (including the ones we teach here at MD Diet) will have the correct kind of food that is high in nutrients and antioxidants for our brain health. Fructose, the main component in soda and other sweetened foods, has been found to disrupt the creation of fresh pathways between brain cells. Eating foods or taking supplements high in Omega-3 fatty acids can reverse the effect that sugar has on the brain. Bad memory also happens because of the inflammation we get in our bodies when we are overweight. Inflammation is not an inherently bad thing as it is the way that our bodies heal ourselves, but when inflammation is prolonged past the time it is supposed to be there for, then problems start to occur. The best way to reverse inflammation is to lose water weight through proper dieting. Want to hear how being fit can improve your memory? Check out our blog about 5 fitness hacks that are sure to help out with your brain health!
Food will taste better
What?! Yeah! Losing weight will make food taste better! A study done by German scientists, which was published in the British Medical Journal, tested 193 healthy kids between the ages of 6 and 18. The ratio of healthy weight kids to obese kids was about 50:50. For the study, the scientists used 22 different taste strips that differed in the 5 different types of taste: bitter, sweet, sour, salty, and savory; 4 different levels of intensity, and 2 taste strips that did not have a flavor attached to them. The participants did not know which taste strips were which and were asked to identify each strip, along with its intensity. The results of this experiment were quite interesting. Of the two groups of children, obese children scored more taste strips incorrectly compared to healthy weight children. Another interesting thing to come out of this experiment was that the older the healthy weight kids who got tested were, the better they got at identifying the intensity of the taste strip, but there was no difference in the older obese kids.
So why does this happen? Why do we lose our sense of taste as we become obese? Well, according to studies, it actually has a lot to do with inflammation. As we gain more weight, we get more inflammation in our body, and as our tongues become more inflamed, more of the cells that detect taste die off. This is reversible however. When we lose weight, and our inflammation gets under control, our bodies will replenish any of the cells that make up the taste buds that may have died off when we gained weight.
Did you find this blog interesting? Take a look at one of our other blogs to learn more tips and tricks to staying healthy!