Thousands of people in and around us are dealing with obesity. If you are obese, you are far from alone. For many, the condition is caused by taking too much food and engaging less in physical activities that would have helped keep them in shape. This then leads to an unhealthy weight gain and obesity.
Obese people are susceptible to suffering from some heart disease. There is a high strain on the heart, and this gives the heart more work to do than usual. And when the weight becomes too much, heart failure is not uncommon in many. Chest pain, heart attack, amongst others, are some of the results of being obese.
Many have then wondered if being obese increases the chances of being susceptible to heart failure while losing weight improve heart failure? Logically, the answer might seem pretty straightforward, but let’s consider in details if losing weight is a perfect get-free card from heart failure.
Does Weight Loss Improve Heart Failure?
For an obese person, they require heart strong and big enough to pump a greater amount of blood to the whole body. In obese people, the size of the cavity of the heart starts to increase, and the heart muscles start to thicken. This development, at one point, will start to spin down when the heart cannot supply enough blood needed by the body anymore.
As earlier stated, with an increase in the weight of an individual, the chances of getting heart-related infection increases. So, it is expected that when the weight reduces the chances also reduces. That is how it works, but the process is a little bit complicated.
Losing weight comes with huge advantages. Several types of research have shown that losing a small amount of weight can result in improved heart condition and help boost the functions of the heart. Weight loss also helps lower blood pressure and help increases digestion.
Another important factor that must be considered is the mode of getting rid of excess weight. There are several methods of shedding excess weight, and all have different effects on the overall goal of improving heart failure.
Losing Weight Form Improving Heart Failure
We will be considering two of the most important way of getting rid of excess weight to help with improving heart failure;
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Exercise regularly
Naturally, an obese person has deprived himself of exercise, which would have helped burn the fat in the body. Such ones need to strengthen the heart and the circulatory system to allow movement of blood and oxygen around the body.
While exercise helps with getting rid of excess weight, one of the quick pointers to unhealthy weight is your inability to exercise well. This is what leads to heart failure and other complications in the first place. If you easily get tired while working out, or getting short of breath easily, then you know you are overweight already.
The type of exercise you engage in when losing weight is critical. It is better to go for a mild strength training exercise, which will help you gradually burn down the excess fat in the body leading to reduced weight. On the other hand, if you choose to engage in heavy weight lifting, this can be very dangerous. You will end up straining the heart, adding more to the original problem.
If you will love to lift weight while exercising, it is best to use weight around 5 to 10 pound and repeatedly use them to achieve an exceptional result. When you start to lose a significant amount of weight, you can then take the stress off your heart.
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Diet control
As effective as exercise is for improving heart failure, your diet also plays an active part in improving the condition. One of the first things to limit is the amount of sodium you consume. The more salt you take, the lower your chances of improving heart health. You must also pay constant attention to the volume of fluid you take especially liquids that melts.
It is also essential to change your diet if you want to get an improved health condition. Get heart-healthy diet that focuses on whole grain, low fat, vegetables, fruits, whole grain, poultry food (skinless poultry) and many more. It is best to discuss your options with your doctor to help you know what to get rid of.
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One of the other important things that should be off your diet includes caffeine and alcohol. Depending on the severity of the heart condition, you might either be advised to limit or altogether avoid it. The struggles do not end at losing weight. You must continue with diets that help you sustain the lost weight.
What Happens After Losing Weight?
Having reached the desired weight loss goal, there are high chances that you will start to add more weight. Some recent research says that losing 10-20% of the present body weight is enough to help improve the heart condition. But as much as you benefit from weight loss, you also benefit from gaining a little afterward.
Must Read: How To Maintain Weight After Losing It
You must ensure that you do not gain weight excessively as this might trigger heart-related conditions that might come with more severe results. Along the way, if you notice changes that are not expected, the best thing to do is visiting expert medical personnel to help examine the condition. When conditions are addressed early, the chances of improving them increases.
Conclusion
At the start of this article, we posted a question about the effectiveness of losing weight when dealing with heart failure. So far, in this article, we have seen that losing a significant amount of weight will help improve the overall heart condition leading to a healthier life. We have also discussed the essential steps to take to shed enough weight to help you remain healthy.
Even after losing the required weight, the struggles do not end there, you must be determined to keep living in an improved and more healthy way, only then can you truly see the benefit of losing weight in dealing with heart failure.