The Dangers of Excess Body Fat
By Chad Tackett
Most people's primary motivation for weight management is to improve their
appearance. Equally important, however, are the many other benefits of proper
nutrition and regular exercise.
Weight management through reduction of excess body fat plays a vital role in
maintaining good health and fighting disease. In fact, medical evidence shows
that obesity poses a major threat to health and longevity. (The most common
definition of obesity is more than 25 percent body fat for men and more than 32
percent for women.) An estimated one in three Americans has some excess body
fat; an estimated 20 percent are obese.
Excess body fat is linked to major physical threats like heart disease, cancer,
and diabetes. (Three out of four Americans die of either heart disease or cancer
each year; according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination survey,
approximately 80 percent of those deaths are associated with life-style factors,
including inactivity.)
For example, if you're obese, it takes more energy for you to breathe because
your heart has to work harder to pump blood to the lungs and to the excess fat
throughout the body. This increased work load can cause your heart to become
enlarged and can result in high blood pressure and life-threatening erratic
heartbeats.
Obese people also tend to have high cholesterol levels, making them more prone
to arteriosclerosis, a narrowing of the arteries by deposits of plaque. This
becomes life-threatening when blood vessels become so narrow or blocked that
vital organs like the brain, heart or kidneys are deprived of blood.
Additionally, the narrowing of the blood vessels forces the heart to pump
harder, and blood pressure rises. High blood pressure itself poses several
health risks, including heart attack, kidney failure, and stroke. About 25
percent of all heart and blood vessel problems are associated with obesity.
Clinical studies have found a relationship between excess body fat and the
incidence of cancer. By itself, body fat is thought to be a storage place for
carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals) in both men and women. In women, excess
body fat has been linked to a higher rate of breast and uterine cancer; in men,
the threat comes from colon and prostate cancer.
There is also a delicate balance between blood sugar, body fat, and the hormone
insulin. Excess blood sugar is stored in the liver and other vital organs; when
the organs are "full," the excess blood sugar is converted to fat. As
fat cells themselves become full, they tend to take in less blood sugar. In some
obese people, the pancreas produces more and more insulin, which the body can't
use, to regulate blood sugar levels, and the whole system becomes overwhelmed.
This poor regulation of blood sugar and insulin results in diabetes, a disease
with long-term consequences, including heart disease, kidney failure, blindness,
amputation, and death. Excess body fat is also linked to gall bladder disease,
gastro-intestinal disease, sexual dysfunction, osteoarthritiis, and stroke.
Reducing Body Fat Reduces Disease Risk
The good news is that reducing body fat reduces the risk of disease. At the
University of Pittsburgh, researchers studied 159 people as they followed a
weight management program. The subjects were under age 45 and 30-70 pounds
overweight. Those subjects who were able to shed just 10-15 percent of their
weight and keep it off during the 18-month study showed significant improvement
in HDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels, waist-to-hip ratio, and blood
pressure. In fact, according to the New England Journal of Medicine, body fat
reduction is a more powerful modulator of cardiac structure than drug therapy.
For people with a family history of heart disease, an active lifestyle can slow
or stop the process for all but those with serious genetic disorders. Studies by
Dean Ornish, MD, have shown that a comprehensive intervention program that
includes regular physical activity, a low-fat diet and a stress reduction
program can even reverse the heart disease process.
Evidence also shows that an active lifestyle and its help in reducing body fat
is associated with a reduced risk for some types of cancers: prostate for men,
breast and uterine cancers for women. (Frisch, et al 1985)
In addition, regular physical activity and a low-fat diet are successful in
treating non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM); for some patients, it has
reduced or eliminated the need for insulin substitutes. In general, regularly
active adults have 42 percent lower risk of developing NIDDM.
Gaining Weight Happens to Most of Us
The average American gains at least one pound a year after age 25. Think about
it. If you're like most Americans, by the time you're 50, you're likely to gain
25 pounds of fat, or more. In addition, your metabolism is also slowing down,
causing your body to work less efficiently at burning the fat it has. At the
same time, if you don't exercise regularly, you lose a pound of muscle each
year. Consequently, people are not only increasing their body fat stores,
increasing their risk of disease, but they're also losing muscle, increasing the
risk of injury, decreasing activity performance, and further slowing down
metabolism.
Very few Americans exercise in any significant way. The President's Council on
Physical Fitness and Sports estimates that only one in five Americans exercises
for the healthy minimum of 20 minutes, three or more days a week. In fact, the
average American gets less than 50 minutes of exercise per week. Even worse, two
out of five Americans are completely sedentary.
The Answer: Healthy Eating and Physical Fitness
But there is hope. Moderate weight loss--of fat, not muscle--and a healthy and
active lifestyle--not dieting--have been found to lower health risks and medical
problems in 90 percent of overweight patients, improving their heart function,
blood pressure, glucose tolerance, sleep disorders, and cholesterol levels, as
well as lowering their requirements for medication, lowering the incidence and
duration of hospitalization, and reducing post-operative complications eight
times less likely to die from cancer than the unfit, and 53 percent less likely
to die from other diseases. Fit people are also eight times less likely to die
from heart disease.
So, are you willing to be patient and make gradual changes in your life that
will lead to a healthier, happier you? Once you have made the decision to go
forward and accept change, the hard part is over. Sure, there is plenty of work
to be done, but it really doesn't matter how long this new process takes. If you
allow changes to take place over several years, your body will adjust
comfortably, and you will be more likely to maintain the healthy lifestyle
permanently.
When you begin achieving improvements in energy and physical and psychological
performance, the fun and excitement you experience will make the change well
worth the effort. Action creates motivation! Good luck: I hope you enjoy all the
wonderful benefits of a safe and effective weight management program.
* Be sure to check with your health care professional before making any
changes in your activity or eating habits.
Chad Tackett, the President of Global Health and Fitness (GHF), has degrees in
Exercise and Heath Science and Nutrition, is a Certified Personal Trainer, and
is a regular guest lecturer to both professional and lay audiences on the
principles of effective exercise and good nutrition. Visit GHF (http://www.global-fitness.com)
and you'll find easy to follow fitness recommendations, hundreds of exercise
instructions and video demonstrations, customized programs, healthy recipes and
meal plans, a free nutrition analysis, health club and personal trainer
directories, and much more!