Healthy Living for a Healthier Life

There are a lot of different ways in which losing weight can improve your health. Being overweight puts you at an increased risk for a wide range of so-called “obesity related diseases.” These are not diseases that are unique to those who are overweight, but instead are diseases that are much more likely to impact those who are obese or overweight. This includes things like heart disease, certain forms of cancer, and even mental health issues like anxiety and depression. What many people don’t realize is that while obesity can significantly increase your risk of chronic diseases, this is only part of the way in which obesity can negatively impact your health.

Obesity has a negative impact on the immune system, making you more susceptible to infection and even the common cold. This means that the more overweight you are, the more likely you are to feel under the weather, the more challenging you are going to find it to shake a cold or fever, and the more likely you are to miss work or use up sick days.

There are several ways in which losing weight can support immune health:

• Immune health is directly benefited by eating a diet rich in vitamins and nutrients.  A plant based diet that is full of fiber, protein and complex carbs is associated with optimal immune functionality. For this reason, many people will experience benefits to their immune functionality when switching to their medical weight loss diet.
• Exercising every day is shown to support optimal immune health. This is because exercise helps to reduce cortisol levels, which in turn supports immune system health. Too much stress can hurt your immune health and leave you exposed to sickness and infection. Exercise is a great way to manage that burden.
• Obesity puts a lot of additional stress on the body, making the body work harder to accomplish basic tasks that you need for daily functionality. Losing weight can reduce this stress on the body, thereby improving immune health.

Losing weight is going to help reduce your risk of chronic diseases, like heart disease and type-2 diabetes, but it will also help you avoid the flu, to get over common cold’s quicker, and feel more energetic and healthy on a daily basis. If you are living with obesity, there is no reason to not start taking those steps towards a healthier way of living.