If you’re not motivated to lose weight now, a few inspiring insights can change that. You already know that shedding weight makes you look and feel better. But researchers have now discovered some new health benefits of getting down to a healthier body weight. Here are just some of the surprising ways that weighing less can make you healthier:
Fewer Allergy and Asthma Symptoms
At first glance, weight loss and allergies seem totally unrelated. But Michael Wald, MD, an integrated medicine specialist in Mount Kisco, N.Y., says that one absolutely impacts the other.
“For some people, being overweight contributes to worsened asthma and allergies,” Dr. Wald says. “It puts a burden on the adrenal glands, which are involved in managing asthma and allergies. Being overweight is also a strain upon the respiratory system and can exacerbate asthma symptoms.”
Reverse Type 2 Diabetes to Lose Weight Now
Type 2 diabetes and obesity are closely connected. Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. What’s surprising, though, is just how effective losing weight can be at reversing the impact of type 2 diabetes. There was a study of 424 gastric bypass surgery patients with type 2 diabetes. The results showed that 83 percent were able to reverse the symptoms of their disease.
There was a second, smaller study that showed the impact on 11 type-2 diabetes patients on a severely calorie-restricted diet. They were able to get their blood sugar levels and insulin secretion activity back to normal within seven days.
If you have type 2 diabetes, one of the best weight-loss benefits may be reversing your condition and avoiding future complications. You can’t beat that for weight-loss motivation.
Glowing Skin
Wald says that being overweight can affect your skin in many ways. “Skin elasticity and color are known to be altered by problems with nutrition, and diets high in carbohydrates and sugar can cause skin pallor and skin tags,” he says.
Darkness around the eyes can be a sign of iron deficiency anemia, protein anemia, diabetes, or stress from a variety of sources.”