The list of health reasons for losing weight continues to grow. The public seems to be aware that excess weight can increase the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease, but many Americans are not aware that carrying extra weight can increase the risk of developing at least 13 types of cancer. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recently reported that 12 of the 13 cancers associated with obesity increased in this country by 7% from 2005 to 2015.  The 13 cancers include thyroid, breast (in post-menopausal women), liver, kidney, uterine, ovarian, pancreatic, gallbladder, upper stomach, multiple myeloma, adenocarcinoma of [...]

Insulin resistance occurs when the pancreas works overtime to produce more insulin than it should because the body’s cells have become resistant to insulin. In other words, the body attempts to provide more insulin than normal to keep blood sugar normal. Insulin resistance precedes the development of type 2 diabetes. There is good evidence that obesity is a major cause of insulin resistance which, in turn, affects blood pressure, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, and fasting glucose levels.

According to a study recently published in The Lancet, the number of obese adults worldwide has skyrocketed over the past 40 years. In 1975 the number of obese adults was 105 million. Today that number has grown to 640 million. According to the study’s author, consumption of large amounts of highly processed carbohydrates has at least in part contributed to the obesity epidemic.

We put our joints under a lot of stress, day after day. This stress is compounded by carrying around excess weight. Every step you take forces your knee, hip, and ankle joints to brunt the bulk of your body weight, and as time goes on, continued pressure on your joints can really ware down your body.

Our joints bear the brunt of our body weight. So when we are obese it can place undue strain on the joints. The knee joint is the most common site for osteoarthritis to develop. However, in obese people even the base of the thumb has been known to get osteoarthritis.