What’s the Relationship Between Nutrition and Obesity?
Over the nearly two decades from 2000 to 2018, the obesity rate in the U.S. increased from 30.5% to 42.4%. And severe obesity rose from 4.7% to 9.2%.
There are several causes of this obesity epidemic but one of the most common is nutrition, or more accurately, the lack of it.
Let’s take a look at the relationship between nutrition and obesity.
Nutrition Is a Double-Edged Sword
Your relationship with food is like any other relationship in your life — you can nourish it or you can neglect it. When you respect it and put some effort into it, nutrition can help you live a longer, healthier life.
If you don’t respect it and take the path of least resistance, it can lead to many health-related problems, including obesity.
Obesity Contributes to Many Other Health Risks
Obesity goes beyond simply being overweight. The clinical definition of obesity is based on your body mass index, or BMI. A normal BMI is in the 18.5 to 24.9 range, overweight is 25-29.9, and obese is anything over 30.
Obesity has many side-effects, including conditions such as:
- High cholesterol
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
It’s not all about your physical health though. Being overweight can also lead to mental health troubles like depression and low self-esteem.
These health problems can become a vicious cycle. Obesity makes you feel physically unwell, which contributes to feelings of depression. You ease those feelings by eating more of the junk food that led to the obesity problem in the first place, and so on.
Is Proper Nutrition Enough to Deal With Obesity?
Healthy eating habits will make a big difference in how you look and feel, especially if you’ve been eating poorly for a long time. The more extra pounds you’re carrying around, the quicker you can see improvements when you change your diet.
That’s not to say it’s easy. Learning how to eat properly and putting that knowledge into action by following an effective weight loss program will take some effort and willpower.
What’s the Relationship Between Nutrition and Obesity?
Don’t expect to make the change overnight but a few simple adjustments over a few weeks can make a world of difference.
Improving your nutrition is only one half of the equation though. The other half is exercise.
There are plenty of diets to choose from but weight loss ultimately comes down to burning more calories than you take in. What kind of food you eat to get those calories plays a big part in it too.
You might get the same number of calories from a couple of slices of pizza or a salad and lean chicken breast but we probably don’t need to tell you which of those two options is better for you.
Where to Turn for Help With Nutrition and Obesity
If you want to solve your nutrition and obesity problems, it can be overwhelming. The internet is full of conflicting information and there are thousands of books on the topic, many of which also contradict one another.
How do you pick out the accurate advice and set the rest aside? Amazing Life Chiropractic and Wellness can help.
We’ll show you how to improve your health through an effective nutrition and wellness plan that will help you lose weight, feel better, and live a happier, more fulfilling life.
Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help.