When you are overweight, it can limit many activities in your life. It can restrict how much exercise you get, and you may find yourself shying away from social activities as a whole. Let’s look at how obesity negatively affects your life in general, including how obesity can impact your heart health.
Understanding the Growing Impact of Obesity
You may think, yes, I’m a few pounds overweight, but certainly not obese. Not so fast.
Obesity can sneak up on us if we’re not paying attention. When we frequently rely on fast food, stop exercising regularly, drink too much alcohol, or when depression slowly invades our psyche, we can get on the scale one day and discover we have put on too many pounds. Maybe it took years or even months, but there it is: you are obese, and it can lower your quality of life.
According to the latest CDC statistics, the prevalence of obesity in the US is 40% among young adults ages 20–39, 44.8% among middle-aged adults 40–59, and 42.8% among adults 60 years and older. You may take comfort in not being alone, but obesity can have a significant impact on your heart health.
Your body mass index, or BMI, can help determine whether you are at a healthy weight, overweight, or obese. You can calculate your own body mass index here.
How Obesity Can Affect Your Heart
Excess weight can contribute to several conditions that increase your risk of cardiovascular problems. Three important areas to consider include cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure.
1. Changes in Cholesterol and Triglycerides
Obesity can contribute to unhealthy cholesterol levels. Bad LDL cholesterol may increase, while elevated triglycerides can contribute to lower levels of beneficial HDL cholesterol. HDL helps remove excess cholesterol from the bloodstream, and maintaining healthy cholesterol levels is an important part of reducing cardiovascular risk.
2. Increased Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Carrying excess weight can increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is also an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. According to the CDC, adults with diabetes are nearly twice as likely to have heart disease or a stroke as adults without diabetes.
3. Higher Blood Pressure
Obesity is associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure. As body size increases, the heart may need to work harder to supply blood and oxygen throughout the body. Over time, elevated blood pressure can place additional strain on the heart and blood vessels and increase the risk of cardiovascular complications.
What Can You Do to Protect Your Heart?
Understanding the potential risks is an important first step. Making sustainable changes to your diet, physical activity, and overall lifestyle can help support a healthier weight and cardiovascular health.
Building a Sustainable Weight-Loss Plan
Losing weight can help improve several cardiovascular risk factors. Focus on nutritious meals, a balanced diet, regular physical activity, and other healthy lifestyle habits. Our cardiologists can help develop a personalized plan based on your health, goals, and needs.
For people with severe obesity, bariatric surgery may be an option to discuss with a healthcare provider. Weight-loss surgery can help improve conditions such as high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels, and type 2 diabetes in appropriate patients. Your cardiologist can evaluate your heart health and, when appropriate, provide cardiac clearance before surgery.
Contact board certified cardiologists to learn about practical approaches to weight management and ways to support your heart health.