Diet and weight loss

General or Other | Fitness & Sports Medicine | Diet and weight loss (Disease)


Description

Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue.

Therapeutic weight loss, in individuals who are overweight or obese, can decrease the likelihood of developing diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, and certain types of cancer. While being overweight had been thought to be linked to stroke there is no strong evidence to support that link.

While losing weight is difficult for many people, it is even more challenging to keep weight off. Most individuals who lose a large amount of weight regain it two to three years later. One theory about regaining lost weight is that people who decrease their caloric intake to lose weight experience a drop in their metabolic rate, making it increasingly difficult to lose weight over a period of months. A lower metabolic rate may also make it easier to regain weight after a more normal diet is resumed. For these reasons, extremely low calorie diets and rapid weight loss are discouraged.

Causes and Risk factors

It can occur unintentionally due to an underlying disease or can arise from a conscious effort to improve an actual or perceived overweight or obese state.

Intentional weight loss refers to the loss of total body mass in an effort to improve fitness and health, and/or to change appearance.

A person may be looking for a fast way to lose weight and theres no shortage of fad diets around. These diets may provide short-term results, but they are difficult to sustain and, ultimately, they deprive the individual of the essential nutrients that only balanced eating can offer. ...