Many factors contribute to the development of heart disease, including obesity. Learn about the connection between heart disease and obesity.
Current research shows that obesity is a common issue in the U.S.: about one in three Americans are obese. Being obese or overweight can lead to the development of several risk factors for heart disease.
For example, if you’re obese, you’re likelier to have high blood pressure (hypertension), high LDL cholesterol, and low HDL cholesterol. Moreover, you have a higher risk of having metabolic syndrome and type-2 diabetes.
In addition to these risk factors, obesity can lead to left ventricular hypertrophy and increase your risk of heart failure. Finally, some research suggests there may be a connection between obesity and some cancers, gallbladder disease, and osteoarthritis.
Determining Your Risk
If you are overweight, it’s important that you determine if it can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. To do so, you want to look at two different measurements: your Body Mass Index (BMI) and your waist circumference.
Body Mass Index
The Body Mass Index is a formula that takes considers your height and weight when it comes to determining obesity. However, the measurements may be less accurate for athletes and elderly people who have lost muscle mass.
There are four categories for determining BMI: underweight, normal, overweight, and obesity.
The measurements for each category are as follows:
- Underweight: below 18.5
- Normal: 18.5-24.9
- Overweight: 25.0-29.9
- Obesity: 30.0 and above
If you are currently overweight or obese and have more than one additional heart disease risk factor, consider losing weight. By doing so, you will decrease your risk of developing heart disease; otherwise, it may continue to increase. To determine your Body Mass Index, you can use an online body mass indicator to calculate your numbers.
Waist Circumference
The other measurement you need to know to determine your heart disease risk is your waist circumference. Simply enough, this is referring to the measurement of your waist just above the navel.
Measuring it is important as waist circumference is a good predictor of abdominal fat, one of the risk factors for heart disease. For men, the risk increases with a waist measurement of over 40 inches. In contrast, the risk increases for women with a waist measurement of over 35 inches.
Heart and Obesity: What’s Next?
While the link between heart disease and obesity is evident, there is actually something you can do about it. By losing even just a small amount of weight, you can decrease your risk of heart disease.
Talk to your doctor about exercise and healthy eating plans to help you lose weight effectively. Meanwhile, if you want to give an extra boost to your heart health while you lose weight, try HeartBeet Complete.
It contains beetroot powder, l-arginine, turmeric, CoQ10, and other powerful ingredients that promote your circulation and more. Give your heart health the support it needs right now and try HeartBeet Complete alongside a healthy weight loss plan.
