The Hidden Dangers of Excess Body Fat
A poor diet can cause you to gain weight, which can strain
your back and exacerbate muscle imbalances. You probably
already know that if you’re overweight, it throws off your
body’s center of gravity. Let’s say you have extra weight in
your belly area. That weight draws your waist and hips
forward. You can picture the pressure this creates on your
back, curving your spine more than normal and overworking
your discs
Extra abdominal or lower body weight also can add strain
to your joints and muscles. Basically, you may be carrying
around an extra 20, 30, 40, or more pounds with you
wherever you go. This extra weight overloads the joints and
pulls muscles off balance as they struggle to adjust to the
postural dysfunction.
But I’m going to tell you something else here that may
surprise you. Body fat can cause you pain not only because it
changes your body structure, but also because it helps
contribute to internal inflammation! The cells that store
excess energy as fat produce other cells that stimulate
inflammation. As they swell up to store more fat, they
produce more cells that activate the inflammation response.
Excess body fat that surrounds organs such as the heart, liver,
and stomach seem to have the biggest effect on inflammation.
Scientists have found that organ fat is crawling with immune
cells, keeping the inflammation going and damaging
surrounding tissues
To be clear, I’m talking about body fat, not dietary fat
For example, eating nuts, fish, or meats, which are full of
healthy fats, is not bad unless of course you eat way too much
(excess).
A poor diet can cause you to gain weight, which can strain
your back and exacerbate muscle imbalances. You probably
already know that if you’re overweight, it throws off your
body’s center of gravity. Let’s say you have extra weight in
your belly area. That weight draws your waist and hips
forward. You can picture the pressure this creates on your
back, curving your spine more than normal and overworking
your discs
Extra abdominal or lower body weight also can add strain
to your joints and muscles. Basically, you may be carrying
around an extra 20, 30, 40, or more pounds with you
wherever you go. This extra weight overloads the joints and
pulls muscles off balance as they struggle to adjust to the
postural dysfunction.
But I’m going to tell you something else here that may
surprise you. Body fat can cause you pain not only because it
changes your body structure, but also because it helps
contribute to internal inflammation! The cells that store
excess energy as fat produce other cells that stimulate
inflammation. As they swell up to store more fat, they
produce more cells that activate the inflammation response.
Excess body fat that surrounds organs such as the heart, liver,
and stomach seem to have the biggest effect on inflammation.
Scientists have found that organ fat is crawling with immune
cells, keeping the inflammation going and damaging
surrounding tissues
To be clear, I’m talking about body fat, not dietary fat
For example, eating nuts, fish, or meats, which are full of
healthy fats, is not bad unless of course you eat way too much
(excess).
