Do You Need Health Reasons for Losing Weight by Losing Body Fat?

There are many reasons why people start weight loss programs including to look good, have better fitting clothing or a smaller size, to please spouses or other significant people in their lives or because their doctor has ordered them to lose weight or else!

Losing weight when you are overweight will have many health benefits. Managing your weight can reduce your excess body fat and doing this will help you to maintain good health and also to fight diseases. When you are obese it can cause you to have major threats to your health and also could decrease your longevity. If you are not sure what constitutes obesity, it is when you are have more than 25% of your body consisting of body fat if you are male and 32% of body fat for women. The current figure is that approximately 20% of Americans are obese. The diseases that you may be at increased risk for if you are considered to be obese are heart disease and certain cancers.

If you are obese your body has to work harder just to perform breathing function and to pump blood. When your body has to work harder your heart increases in size to compensate which increases your blood pressure and can initiate life-threatening erratic heartbeats. Those who are obese can also have high levels of blood cholesterol, which leads to stroke and heart attacks. Your kidneys can also become deprived of blood posing further health risks. Studies show that approximately 25% of all blood vessel problems and heart problems are associated with the presence of obesity. There is also an increased risk of cancer when you carry around excess body fat on your body. Women who have a higher amount of body fat than is normal for their height and frame have a higher risk for breast or uterine cancer. Men who are obese run a higher risk for colon or prostate cancer.

Diabetes is also connected with obesity because there is a fine balancing act between blood sugar levels, body fat, and the amount of insulin produced by the body. When there are excessive amounts of blood sugar this is stored in the liver and other vital body organs. This excess sugar is then turned into fat when the level of blood sugar reaches maximum levels in the liver and other vital organs. If your body's fat cells become "full", they cannot take in as much of the blood sugar, overwhelming the system. Diabetes is a serious disease with long-term consequences for future health. Consequences such as amputation, blindness, death, heart disease and kidney failure. If you have excess body fat you can experience gall bladder disease, gastro-intestinal disease, osteoarthritis, sexual dysfunction and stroke.

If you reduce your body fat, you will reduce your risk of all of these serious diseases. Some researchers believe that reducing your amount of body fat is more beneficial to reducing your risk of these diseases than medications.