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What Excess Weight Does To Your Heart
Maintaining your ideal weight can do more than just enhance your self-image. Staying within the appropriate weight range for your height, age, sex, and body type can also reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. You see, those extra pounds and ounces not only stress your zipper, they stress your heart, too.
A Weight On Your Heart
For every extra pound of body fat you carry, your heart needs to pump blood through an extra mile's worth of blood vessels; an immense burden on your heart. Obesity also increases your likelihood of developing atherosclerosis (fatty deposits on the inner walls of the blood vessels), diabetes, and high blood pressure, all of which put you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. Obesity also makes it more difficult for people to remain active; the more sedentary your lifestyle, the greater your risk of heart disease. Fortunately, by reducing your weight to normal levels, you can also reduce your risk of developing these disorders.
The Diet Exercise Link
An imbalanced diet and lack of exercise are two main causes of overweight. These same habits are also major factors in heart disease risk. High fat diets contribute excessive calories (which can result in overweight) as well as fatty deposits that build up on arterial walls (atherosclerosis). Lack of exercise results in fewer calories being burned (hence a greater likelihood of gaining weight), may decrease the body's ability to use oxygen, is associated with higher levels of heart-damaging LDL cholesterol, and is known to negatively affect blood pressure.
Reducing The Risk
If you're motivated to control your weight for your heart's health, don't diet! Weight-reduction diets rarely work. Instead, begin to incorporate a healthy, balanced eating plan with a regular program of heart-strengthening aerobic exercise. According to the American Heart Association, the healthiest diet is one that limits sodium to no more than 3,000 mg. a day, cholesterol to no more than 300 mg. a day, and fats to no more than 30% of your daily caloric intake. The AHA also recommends that non-alcoholics use alcohol in moderation only, not to exceed 1 1/2 ounces of alcohol per day. In order to reap the benefits of aerobics (for both weight control and heart health), it's important to exercise vigorously for at least 20-30 minutes 3-5 times a week.
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