Obesity and Heart Disease

Introduction

Is there an association between obesity and heart disease? Certainly, there is, that is according to a study by the National Center for Biotechnological Information of the US National Library of Medicine. In fact, obesity makes it difficult for the heart to relax, which is one of the factors that can lead to heart failure.

Abdominal Obesity and Heart Disease—Waist Size Can Also Cause This Health Condition!

Interestingly, the deposition of fat in your stomach can make you develop heart problems. A number of studies have revealed that when a person has a lot of fat in his or her abdomen, he or she has an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, or even dying!

But, does this connection between obesity and heart disease hold true for only grown-up men, women, and growing children? What about unborn babies?

Maternal Obesity And Congenital Heart Disease

Are you a pregnant woman? Have you put on a lot of weight since you became pregnant? Then, if you want to increase the chances that you will give birth to a baby with a healthy heart, take steps to lose weight. This is because a study conducted by the National Center for Biotechnological Information has revealed that overweight pregnant women are more likely to have babies with defective hearts than mothers who are not obese.  

Now that you know about these facts, what can you do to prevent becoming obese so that you can reduce your risk of developing heart disease?

 

Fighting Obesity and Heart Disease—How To Prevent Obesity

1.     Eat Breakfast Every Day

Research shows that when you eat something in the morning every day, it can help to prevent you from becoming obese.

So, start your day by drinking about two glasses of warm water with a few drops of lemon juice added. Then, for breakfast, eat your cereals and bread with stone fruits such as plums, peaches, or nectarines which contain chemicals that can help you to prevent becoming overweight. 

2.     Eat Foods That Will Satisfy You

It will be hard to prevent gaining weight if you feel hungry often. Combining the right foods can help you to remain satisfied for long periods so that you will not be tempted to eat foods that can make you gain weight, such as sugary foods.

So, eat healthy fats because fats take a long time to digest.

• Eat one or two servings of fats that are healthy for the heart.
• Fry your fish with olive oil.
• Fry your beans balls with soybean oil.
• Fry your chips with sunflower oil.
• Prepare your garden eggs stew or cabbage stew with safflower oil.
• Fry your yams with peanut oil, or prepare your shito with olive oil.
• Eat your oats porridge in the morning with bread and avocados.
• Eat wheat porridge or corn dough porridge with slices of bread and sardines, and with one or two slices of oranges.
• Eat your oats with bran bread, slices of pawpaw, and a handful of Tigernuts, almond nuts, or Brazilnuts. For your lunch, you may choose to eat boiled brown rice with lettuce or cabbage stew prepared with salmon.

By cooking this way, you can ensure that you will not eat in between meals to increase your weight.

3.     Combine Proteins And Carbohydrates

Combining proteins and complex carbohydrates will help you to stay satisfied for a long time. Make sure that you choose to eat lean proteins instead of fatty proteins.

• Instead of eating hot dogs and white, polished, perfumed rice, choose to eat rabbit meat with brown, unpolished rice, eggplant stew, and slices of watermelon.
• Instead of eating sausages with white bread, cheese, and a soda, choose to eat cooked white rice with beans stew, and one mango for supper.
• Eat wheat, yams, or plantains with carrot, lettuce, cucumber, and mackerel stew, together with a handful of Tigernuts and sour sup for lunch.
• Eat your pumpkin or potatoes with eggplant stew prepared with lean beef or chicken with the skin removed, some tangerines or oranges, squash, and a handful of Brazilnuts.
• Enjoy your radish, parsnip, potatoes, sorghum, or millet with kontomire (cocoyam leaves) stew prepared with tuna, mushrooms, snails, and eat a dessert of grapefruit or bananas.

4.     Avoid Drinks That Contain A Lot Of Calories

Research shows that drinking fluids that contain a lot of calories can make you gain weight. So, replace the sodas with clean, pure water. You may choose to make the water taste better so that you can enjoy it better by adding lemon juice to it.

Furthermore, choose to eat natural fruits instead of drinking fruit juices because drinking fruit juices can give you other health problems. According to the National Center for Biotechnological Information, consuming natural fruits does not increase your blood sugar levels significantly, whilst drinking fruit juices increases the amount of sugar in your blood significantly and it can increase your risk of developing diabetes.

Additionally, blend a variety of fruits, such as pawpaws, oranges, bananas, tangerines, mangoes, watermelons, and drink it as your preferred juice instead of sodas.

By the way, there is a link between getting diabetes and heart disease. You don’t want to carry all that health baggage, do you?  

5.     Reduce Your Consumption Of Cholesterol

Research shows that eating too much cholesterol, or having too much cholesterol in your body, can make you put on weight. Apart from this, eating too much cholesterol can also cause heart disease.

There are many ways to reduce the amount of cholesterol in your body. You may either choose to combat it with certain foods or you can choose to lower your cholesterol by exercising.

6.     Exercise Regularly

Exercising regularly can help you to burn calories so that you can shed a few kilograms of fat. Apart from this, you can avoid getting heart disease by exercising because exercise is good for the heart.

Here are a few exercises you can do regularly to burn fat so that you will not become obese:

A.     Run With Ankle Weights

Run with ankle weights. A study published in the Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation suggests that running with ankle weights helps the body to burn more calories than when you run without the weights. Consequently, you can lose more weight in a shorter amount of time.

B.     Walk Briskly

Do brisk walking regularly. Research shows that doing this kind of exercise is also good for your general health.

Here are some tips to help you:

1. Walk tall, with your chin up, preferably parallel to the ground. Make sure you focus about 20 feet ahead.
2. To move at a faster pace, take quicker, shorter steps.
3. Walk at a fast pace for about 10 minutes, then reduce your speed for about five minutes, and then increase your pace again for another 10 minutes.
4. Do not overstride or elongate your steps.
5. Swing your arms from front to back and ensure that you keep your elbows close to your body. Avoid swinging your arms from side to side.
6. Do not land flat-footed. Rather, roll through each step and push off with your toes.

7.     Avoid Smoking

 A study published in the journal Obesity suggests that smoking can make you gain weight. Furthermore, smoking can increase your risk of developing heart disease. So, avoid spending too much time with smokers so that you will not be enticed to start the habit. Furthermore, choose to deal with nervous situations and tragedies by praying—research shows that praying can help people deal with emotional problems better, or choose to deal with cold weather by drinking green tea, which is good for the heart.

8.     Deal With Stress In Healthy Ways

Are you wondering how stress can make you obese? Suffering from stress for a long period may make you eat unhealthy foods such as hot dogs, pie, cakes, ice cream, and doughnuts, which contain a lot of fat and so can make you gain weight.

Additionally, you may overeat when you get stressed out regularly. That will make it harder for you to go through your exercise regimen.

So, deal with your stress before it becomes a problem. Meditate on God’s word every day, break down every work you do into manageable portions, plan your life properly, get enough sleep every evening, and cast your burdens on the Lord by praying. 

Conclusion

It has been established by scientists that obesity and heart disease have a connection. And you can prevent becoming obese, which can reduce the likelihood that you can get heart disease, by making sure you eat breakfast every day, eating healthy fats regularly, eating a combination of proteins and complex carbohydrates, avoiding sugary drinks, as well as making certain lifestyle changes and dealing with stress.

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