Obesity can be a Major Factor in Causing Back Pain

A person is considered to be obese when the amount of fat tissue throughout their body is beyond the usual levels based upon height, age and weight. The American Obesity Association (AOA) states that 64.5% of adult Americans, which is around 127 million people, can be described as being overweight or obese. It not only affects adults across the U.S., but is now becoming a trend among today's youth.

When a person is obese, they will experience a multitude of problems, many of which affect their overall health. There will be many variables within their physique that will suffer from being overweight. Poor circulation throughout the body, weak legs, as well as back pain, are some of the things that could happen when someone is obese.

When someone is obese, they may feel discomfort in their back and may exhibit some of the symptoms that are associated with:

1) Osteoporosis: The density and strength of your bones are weakened. A person is more at a risk for fracture when they have osteoporosis. Vertebral fractures tend to be painful, often disabling a person. When you are diagnosed with this condition, you probably have lost 25-30% bone density.

2) Osteoarthritis: A form of arthritis, usually seen in older individuals. This condition means that the cartilage of the joints have suffered chronic degeneration.

3) Rheumatoid Arthritis: A person suffers from stiffness and inflammation of the joints. They will also experience weakness, loss of mobility, as well as deformity.

4) Degenerative Disc Disease

5) Spinal Stenosis: Means that the lumbar spinal column has narrowing, which produces pressure on the nerve roots. This also can result in sciatica.

6) Spondylolosthesis: There is slippage in the lower back disc.

7) Sciatica: A person has pain along the sciatic nerve. This is usually caused by a herniated disk of the lumbar region of the spine.

To better understand the affects of obesity on back problems, you should know that the spine is meant to carry a person's body weight. It also distributes the loads during rest and activity. If a person has excess body weight, the spine then has to deal with this extra burden, causing some structural compromise and damage, as well as injury.

The most affected part of the back that is usually apparent, is the lower back, also known as the lumbar spine. If a person is not exercising, then they will suffer from poor flexibility and weak muscles in the back area. Sometimes the curve of the lower back can curve, weakening other areas of the body.

When you are interested in improving or avoiding back pain, there are a few exercises that you may want to consider. It is suggested that you work out the back at least five minutes per day to avoid injury and to ease back. They can be found below:

Curl-Up
1) Lie flat on your back with one knee flexed.
2) Raise your head and shoulders off the floor.
3) Alternate the bent leg midway through each set of repetitions.
4) Pause and then return to the starting position.

Side Bridge
1) Lie on your right side, bending your knees.
2) Raise your upper body using your right arm to hold you up.
3) Use the torso to lift the hips, being careful not to let the top hip rotate forward.
4) Make sure to bend your elbow directly beneath your shoulder.
5) Place your left hand on your hip.
6) Hold this position for 10 to 15 minutes.
7) Repeat on the opposite side.

Birddog
1) Get on all fours.
2) Extend one leg and the opposite arm so that they are parallel to the floor.
3) Hold this position for seven to eight seconds.
4) Repeat with the opposite arm and leg.

Herbs For Obesity

Obesity is one of the major health concerns that plague America today. Approximately two-thirds of American adults are considered overweight; while one in three are seriously overweight or obese.

Obesity is defined as having an abnormal amount of body fat; being 20 to 30 percent over the ideal weight for age, sex and height.

Aside from being a major cosmetic concern, obesity is a great risk factor for serious medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney troubles, prostate enlargement, female infertility, uterine fibroids, pregnancy disorders, gallstones, cardiovascular diseases, stroke and cancer. Excessive body weight also puts great stress on joints increasing the chances of arthritis.

How many calories do you burn?

Everyone's metabolism (the rate at which the body burns calories) is different and is influenced by many factors, including genetics. Regularly eating even a few more calories than your body needs can lead to weight gain. By consuming only 100 extra calories a day, for example, you'll gain a pound in approximately a month (a pound of body fat equals 3,500 calories). Some experts think a sedentary lifestyle influences weight gain even more than eating too many calories. Exercise burns calories and builds muscle. And the more muscle mass you have, the greater number of calories your body burns at rest.

Aside from aggressive dieting and exercising, some herbal products may aid in raising metabolism or suppressing the appetite. But at the same time, you should also be wary of their side effects. Always check with your health care provider first.

Herbs & Effects:

Aloe Vera, improves digestion and cleans the digestive tract

Astralgus, increases energy and improves nutrient absorption

Bee pollen, stimulates metabolism and quickly satisfy craving for sweets

Bladderwrack, contains iodine which helps enhance thyroid function

Brewer's yeast, reduces various cravings for food and drink

Cayenne, reduces hunger after meals and increases calorie burning by the body

Chitosan, slows the absorption of fat in the intestine

Chromium, helps the body use fat for energy and builds muscles

Dandelion, flushes out kidneys, boosts metabolism, and offsets cravings for sweets

Ephedra, also known as ma huang, suppresses appetite

Fennel, suppresses appetite and removes mucus and fat from the intestinal tract

Garcinia cambogia, quells hunger pangs

Green tea, increases energy expenditure and enhances the ability of the body to burn fat

Guaraná, contains caffeine which curbs appetite, increases metabolic rates and has a mild diuretic effect

Guggul, lowers cholesterol and promotes weight control

Kelp, boosts metabolism

Licorice, sustains regulated blood sugar level and reduces cravings for sweets

Malabar tamarind, helps prevents the production of fat and suppresses appetite

Siberian ginseng, stabilizes blood sugar and reduces cravings for sweets

Yohimbine, raises metabolic rates, reduces appetite and increases fat burning

These herbs are not recommended to replace regular diet. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is the key.

Obesity--Are you at Risk and How Will it Affect Your Health

Obesity is on the rise worldwide. Approximately 1.2 billion people are overweight and of these 300 million are considered obese. In the United States alone, more than half of all adults are overweight and about 20% of these people are obese. Of children 6 years and older, 15% of them are obese. This number has tripled since the 1970s. In the United States, at least 300,000 people die each year from complications attributed to obesity. Women are at a higher risk for obesity than men and blacks and Hispanics also fall into a higher risk group than other ethnic groups, in the United States.

Obesity has negative affects on both your body and your mind. It puts extra stress on your whole body and wears down your joints. It is hard to keep up with friends, you may not fit in chairs and it is difficult to participate in activities. Obesity is the cause of breathing problems, such as; sleep apnea and asthma. Prolonged obesity may lead to knee and hip replacement surgery.

Mentally, being overweight will drain your confidence and self-esteem. There has been a great deal of research done on how overweight people are treated by society. No matter how great your personality is, society does not treat an obese person the same as they treat a person of normal weight. This treatment can be very damaging to children and adolescents. Overweight people are one of the most discriminated against groups of people in society today.

Obesity can have some very negative affects on your health. Adolescents are starting to experience health problems that used to be seen only in adults, such as; type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver disease and bladder disorders. Women may also experience problems with their reproductive system. Obese people are at higher risk for colon and breast cancer, stroke, heart disease and death.

People who are overweight are at a greater risk for depression. These feeling of inadequacy can cause a person to eat to relieve the emotional pain. This overeating can lead to a feeling of sadness that can lead to more eating. This endless cycle can be very difficult to break, not to mention the affect that it can have on your children and how they view the use of food. Obesity is an epidemic in this country and is considered one of the top reasons for preventable death in the United States.

Obesity--What is it and What Causes it?

Do not be confused about being overweight and being obese. Being overweight is weighing above what is medically considered your ideal weight. Being obese is having a large amount of exess weight and body fat. Obese people are extremelly overweight and at high risk for serious medical problems. Obesity can cause diabetes, high blood, heart problems, breathing difficulties and can decrease your life span.

Body mass index or BMI is a measurement used to determine if a person is considered medically obese. BMI is a figure based on your weight and your height. Once your BMI has been determined, it will be compared to other people with the same gender and age. If your BMI is greater than 95% of the other people in that category, you are considered to be overweight. An obese person is considered to be extremely overweight. Very muscular people will be the exception to this rule because their excess weight is muscle and not fat.

Weight gain is caused when a person does not burn off as many calories as they consume. These extra calories will be stored in the body as fat. Obesity does not happen quickly. Usually, an obese person has been consuming an excessive amount of calories for several years.

Genetics plays a large part in how our bodies metabolize food. Families can be predisposed to obesity. Also, the way a person is raised (being expected to eat everything on your plate) will have an affect on how you view eating and food. These factors considered, it is hard to determine if obesity is nature or nurture. I suspect in most cases it is a combination of the two. A very small percentage of people are overweight due to medical reasons.

One the biggest contributors to obesity is emotional eating. Eating because you are bored, upset, stressed out, nervous or sad will only lead to feelings of shame causing you to repeat the whole cycle.

Another leading cause of obesity is not enough movement. With the evolution of the "screen age" people are less active. People are more likely to drive than they are to walk. With today's lifestyle being much faster paced than in decades past, people are more likely to opt for convenience foods and fast foods than they are to take the time to cook a nutritious meal. These are all factors that can be overcome, but it will not happen overnight and it will not happen without some consistent hard work.

Obesity and the Cola Connection

If you are addicted to cola drinks that you are probably addicted to sugar. Sugar as you may or may not know is considered to be an empty calorie. It provides tons of calories with no nutritional value and numerous studies have proven a link between obesity and cola drinkers in the United States.
In fact if you drink a cola a day you are also setting yourself up to develop a nice case of Type 2 Diabetes as the high fructose corn syrup in each eight ounce serving contains a whopping 14 tablespoons of sugar.

Let's take the most popular soft drink in the world, Coca Cola, as a nutritional example.

One eight ounce serving of Coca Cola Classic contains 140 calories, most of it from high fructose corn syrup and caffeine.
That caffeine helps speed that sugar to your intestines and pancreas causing blood sugar spikes and crashes. These sugar crashes cause a craving for more cola, which provides yet another quick fix to get a sugar high.
This is why so many people who drink colas often drink several a day. They are addicted to the sugar in the beverage. Many overweight individuals don't like to admit it but they consume way more cola a day than just eight ounces.
Many drink at least three to four servings a day. Four servings adds an additional 560 calories to your diet a day.

Are you any better off drinking Diet Coca Cola?
If you look at the ingredients on a can of Diet Coke you will see that aspartame has been added to the mix as a sugar free substitute.
However this is absolutely worthless considering that the second highest ingredient in Diet Coke is still that high fructose corn syrup which speeds glucose to the pancreas and brain.
This is why it is also easy to get addicted to the mood fix you get from drinking diet coke.

No matter what brand of cola you are drinking most have three ingredients that are harmful to human health.

1. Sweeteners. Sugar in soft drinks (including non-cola drinks) increases weight gain and also the incidence of dental cavities. Non-caloric sweeteners such as saccharin and aspartame can also have undesirable side-effects such as headaches, mouth ulcers and gas.

2. Caffeine. This poor man's "upper" is added specifically to cola drinks. It is a diuretic and can elevate blood pressure. It has been suggested that caffeine is linked to heart attacks, strokes and the development of rheumatoid arthritis. If you are already on a stimulant weight loss supplement you could be asking for trouble.

3. Phosphoric acid. This acid is typically only used in cola drinks, which
are very acidic (low pH) compared to other soft drinks. This can increase
the rate of enamel loss from teeth. Phosphates in general cause decalcification of bone tissue, accelerating the process of osteoporosis.

Obviously if you care about your health and you want to lose weight then one of your first steps should be to stop drinking cola drinks.
It is estimated that you can lose 15 pounds a month simply by cutting all sugary, carbonated drinks from your diet!