Does weight loss help with greater heart health?

Obesity or excess weight can significantly affect your health in a wide range of ways. And in regards to your heart, the extra weight can suppress your health and exert unnecessary stress on this vital organ of the body.

It, therefore, means that your heart health will deteriorate if you are overweight. So, if you are thinking of losing weight, you may want to understand how weight loss can help improve your heart health. 

Read through this post to uncover more about the importance of losing weight to your heart health.

Obesity and heart health

According to The University of Washington cardiologist Lisa de las Fuentes, when a person is obese or overweight, the heart will be required to work extra hard, which adds more stress to the heart.

An overweight person requires a stable heart that can pump a greater amount of blood demand due to the excess weight exerted on the heart. This means that the chambers size and the heart cavity will enlarge, and the muscles get thicker too.

In some people, if this goes on for some time, the heart starts to lose the ability to pump the blood and contract for adequate push to other essential body organs. These factors can lead to heart failure.

Additionally, when there are high fats collected in the liver, it leads to metabolic complications like insulin resistance, which interferes with the body’s ability to metabolize sugar. 

Also, it causes an increase in the production of fats in the liver that are released into the bloodstream causing high levels of lipids such as triglycerides, all of which are related to increased risks of heart problems.

However, as medical reports attest, most of the metabolic problems linked with fats in the liver can be reduced or even reversed through weight-loss strategies.

What happens to the heart when losing weight?

To help you understand the benefits of weight loss to your heart, here are what happens to your body when you start your weight loss journey.

• Blood vessels.

Weight loss reduces your heart’s workload of pumping the increased demand of blood when you are overweight. The blood vessels help supply the heart with the adequate amount of blood it requires to maintain pumping.

As you engage in a weight-loss routine, either through exercise or dieting, you minimize the amount of fats within the vessels and plaque formation that builds up to clog the vessels, leading to a heart attack.

There is a direct link between weight loss and better blood flow. Therefore, reduce your health and have better heart health.

• Blood clots.

Sometimes in obese people, blood flow may slow down, causing blood clots within the vessels. Having a healthy weight and a recommended blood pressure means fewer blood clots. Therefore, shedding some pounds reduces the likelihood of clots breaking away into your other body organs like the brain, heart, or lungs.

• Blood fats.

The overall amount of blood lipids or fats changes when you start to lose weight, and Weight loss can help reduce triglycerides, make the LDL cholesterol go down while increasing the HDL cholesterol.

This means that there are high amounts of good cholesterol and fewer fats and bad cholesterol in your bloodstream.

• The belly.

The fats around the heart and belly are generally bad for your heart health. According to a 2011 study posted in the journal, People with heart diseases accompanied by “muffin hat” or “beer belly” have more risks of death compared to those with evenly distributed fats in their bodies.

The study further states that fats around the heart may show a greater signal of heart complications than those on the waistline. 

When you actively embark on a weight loss journey, especially through exercise, you burn these fats around the belly and the heart reducing the risks of developing heart problems.

Tips for losing weight.

There are several ways you can adopt if you want to start losing weight. First, you need to start doing physical exercises and checking your diet. Along with these, you also need to start checking your calories because once you are able to burn more calories than you consume, you will start losing weight instantly.

Ensure that your diet incorporates a lot of fibers and proteins to make you full faster than other foods. Also, you need to reduce the amount of refined sugar and carbohydrates in your diet. 

However, if you are having difficulty losing weight, you can consult your doctor on the possibility of weight loss surgery.

Conclusion.

Being obese or overweight may put you at risk of developing heart diseases. Though not so fast, weight loss is the ideal solution to this problem. 

Ensure you start doing exercises and follow a healthy diet while also checking your calories. Reduce the amount of carbohydrates and refined sugars in your meals to facilitate weight loss. If you have problems losing weight, consult your doctor on the possible weight loss surgery options.