If you're experiencing occasional joint pain while you go for a walk or climb stairs, otherwise you're fearful about joint pain because a parent has it, turn to prevention. Step one is to envision your weight.
There are two ways in which being obese increases your risk of developing osteoarthritis (probably the most common joint disorder, attributable to the damage and tear of joints). First, extra weight puts extra stress on weight-bearing joints (knees, for instance). Second, inflammatory aspects related to weight gain may cause problems in other joints (eg, hands).
Let's have a look at weights and your knees. When you walk on level ground, the force in your knees is the same as 1½ times your body weight. This implies that a 200-pound man will put 300 kilos of stress on his knees with each step. Add a stoop, and the stress is even greater: Each knee exerts two to 3 times your body weight while you walk up and down stairs, and while you sit right down to tie or lift a shoelace. Four to 5 times the body weight. An item you dropped.
Losing just a few kilos can go a great distance toward reducing stress in your knees and protecting them. For example, research has shown that a sustained weight reduction of 10 to fifteen kilos in obese youth can translate to a much lower risk of osteoarthritis later in life.
Best technique to drop some pounds
Increasing physical activity has many health advantages and may aid you drop some pounds. But stepping up your exercise alone is never enough to aid you drop some pounds. Every pound you should shed represents about 3,500 calories. So should you're hoping to lose half a pound to a pound per week, it's essential cut 250 to 500 calories a day. A great technique to start is to attempt to burn 125 calories through exercise and eat 125 fewer calories every day.
Don't forget that the maths works each ways: adding in an additional 100 calories a day without burning them can leave you 10 kilos heavier at the top of a 12 months! Over time, routine foods like a scoop or two of ice cream, a calorie-laden coffee, or a visit to the cookie or candy jar can tip the scales within the mistaken direction.
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