What are the health benefits of losing weight?

January 21, 2021

Important Points:

Weight Loss
Benefits
Diabetes
Cancer
Pain
Cognitive function

What are the health benefits of losing weight?

Losing weight lowers blood pressure, strengthens the heart and reduces your cancer risk. Losing just 5 to 7 percent of body weight delays the onset of type 2 diabetes. It also improves mood, memory, fertility, sexual function, skin, and joint and back pain.

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1. It will improve your cognitive function

Losing weight is not just a physical change. It can also affect the way a person thinks. A study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that intentional weight loss improves verbal memory, verbal fluency, executive function (planning and self-control), and global cognition (overall thinking). If you feel you need help in this area, losing weight would give you a boost.

2. It helps with your mood

Losing weight through exercise not only makes you healthier. It can also make you happier. According to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, exercise can help mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood. It can also improve self-esteem.

3. It can improve your sex life.

A study published in the journal Obesity showed that people with obesity are more prone to erectile dysfunction. It has also been reported that the quality of sex is lower in people with obesity than in people without a weight problem. So with regular exercise and weight loss, penile function will improve. You can get back a satisfying sex life.

4. It can increase reproductive functioning.

Losing weight can help improve fertility in women, especially those with polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS. In men, weight loss helps improve semen health, which raises the chances of having a child.

5. You sweat less

Body fat acts as a natural insulator. So losing weight through losing body fat will keep you feeling cooler and make you less likely to sweat.

6. Your blood pressure will become lower

As little as a loss of ten pounds can bring a person’s blood pressure back to normal. The effect is so strong that weight loss is recommended along with medication in treating hypertension (high blood pressure).

7. It strengthens the heart

Losing weight makes it easier for your heart to pump blood through the body, while exercise strengthens your heart muscles. Losing weight is generally better for your cardiovascular health.

8. It prevents Type 2 Diabetes

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, losing just 5 to 7 percent of your body weight delays the onset of type 2 diabetes.

9. It helps prevent cancer

Obesity is a risk factor for many forms of cancer, from breast to colorectal cancer. Losing weight removes this risk factor. That lowers your risk of developing cancer.

10. It is good for the kidneys.

Because losing weight can reduce high blood pressure, it prevents renal (kidney) damage and kidney diseases. Losing weight also prevents diabetes, a common cause of kidney failure. That gives you two great perks of losing weight.

11. It prevents pancreatitis and pancreatic stones.

Obesity is associated with a higher risk of pancreatitis and gallstones. Both are surgical risks and can cause a person a lot of pain. By losing weight, you lower the chance that stones will form and keep your pancreas in tip-top shape.

12. Your skin will be clearer

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease closely associated with obesity. Keeping a normal weight has been shown to lessen how severe psoriasis is and how often it flares up. Psoriasis aside, people who are obese are generally more prone to skin problems than those with normal weight.

13. It improves oral health

Losing weight has been correlated with fewer inflammatory gum conditions, and so with better oral health.

14. It helps with body pain

Being overweight puts extra work on your joints. This leads to joint pain and inflammation. Losing weight lightens the load on your knees and back, which helps ease joint pain.

15. It improves your nail health

A study published in the journal Nutrients found that obesity has been strongly linked to iron deficiency anemia. This type of anemia can wreak havoc on your nails and make them brittle and fragile.

Cognitive Effects of Intentional Weight Loss in Elderly Obese Individuals With Mild Cognitive Impairment

https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/101/3/1104/2804876

Exercise for Mental Health

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470658/

Sexual Functioning and Obesity: A Review

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/oby.2012.104

Sexual Quality of Life Lower for the Obese

https://corporate.dukehealth.org/NEWS-LISTING/SEXUAL-QUALITY-LIFE-LOWER-OBESE

Weight loss before fertility treatment may improve pregnancy odds for women with PCOS

https://www.nih.gov/NEWS-EVENTS/NEWS-RELEASES/WEIGHT-LOSS-BEFORE-FERTILITY-TREATMENT-MAY-IMPROVE-PREGNANCY-ODDS-WOMEN-PCOS

Your Guide To Lowering Blood Pressure

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/heart/hbp_low.pdf