Being overweight or obese can affect our health. Not only is it bad for your health, but it also can lead to physical conditions that can harm you in many ways. It is common that we may not see it as a problem until it is too late. It may be very easy to become overweight or obese, however, getting back to a healthy weight may be a much harder task to overcome. It could be the difference between living comfortably or not.
If you are unsure if you are obese, there are BMI calculators out there that could be able to help figure it out. They are able to calculate the overall amount of body fat, just not where it is distributed. If you want to figure it out further, you could measure around your waist by your belly button. In men, it may become something to pay attention to if your waist is starting around 37.5-40 inches. Being overweight can affect just the way we look in the mirror as well.
Mental Health
Your physical health has a great impact on your mental health and vice versa. Depending on the person, your mental health may affect how you treat your body. Meaning it could cause you to overeat as a form of coping with your mentality.
The other side of it is that your physical health could worsen your mental health. You may see a rise in anxiety and depression when you are overweight. Feeling depressed or anxious may cause you to feel unmotivated or feeling as if you don’t have much energy. These feelings can affect your physical health and could lead to a problem with weight.
Testosterone Levels
A man’s testosterone levels are always moving and leveling out throughout their lives. During puberty, they may be higher than usual, and then in adulthood, they will level off. Once you get older these levels may decrease, but that is completely normal for your body to go through.
However, if you are overweight, this may cause your testosterone levels to change and be abnormal. It could be seen that with each extra inch around the waist, you are losing a percentage of the testosterone your body had before. Just a four-inch increase around your waist could decrease your testosterone levels by 75%.
Being overweight or obese may also cause problems with infertility. It could lead to having a lower sperm count. There are options for testosterone replacement therapy, however, it could vary per your health.
Prostate Issues
One of the biggest risks a man as if they are overweight or obese would be the possibility of prostate cancer. If a man is obese it may cause the risk of prostate cancer to raise 20% and severely obese men to 34%. It also heightens the risk of cancer spreading beyond the prostate.
This occurs because while being obese, it may be harder to detect for the doctor. While obese, PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels increase within the man’s body and this can, in turn, create the large possibility of prostate cancer.
No matter who we are, being obese can cause major issues within our bodies and mind. It may take some time and effort to make ourselves healthy again, but it is worth it.
