Infertility

Although women and men obviously have different reproductive systems, being overweight or obese can affect fertility for both genders.
Several studies have found that losing weight can help restore fertility and seems to improve everyone’s love life. For women, being overweight can play havoc with the reproductive hormones. Those imbalances can affect menstrual cycles and may lead to infertility.
Obesity has also been connected to women having a poorer response and weaker absorption of fertility drugs. However, weight loss has been shown to improve fertility rates in women, particularly obese women. In one Australian study, researchers put sixty-seven obese infertile women on a lifestyle-based weight-loss program for 6 months.The goal of the study was to determine whether the women could achieve a viable pregnancy, ideally without medication. The results were amazing.

Women in the study lost an average of 22 pounds; sixty of the sixty-seven women whose ovaries were not releasing eggs at the start of the study resumed spontaneous ovulation; fifty-two of the women became pregnant (eighteen spontaneously), and forty-five women gave birth. The miscarriage rate was 18 percent, compared with 75 percent for the same women prior to the weight-loss program.

Obesity can affect men’s fertility as well. A study of 520 men found that as BMI increased from a healthy level to levels indicating that the men were overweight or obese, the sperm count and semen quality decreased. In addition, several of the lifestyle factors that contribute to heart disease are linked to an increased risk of erectile dysfunction (ED). Smoking, being overweight, and avoiding exercise are all possible causes for ED. Conversely, losing weight seems to help obese men reduce their episodes of ED.One study divided into two groups 110 obese men between the ages of thirty-five and fifty-five who did
not have diabetes, hypertension, or high blood fat levels but did have ED.The first group underwent an intensive lifestyle-based weight-loss program, while the control group received general information about diet and exercise. The men in the weight-loss program lost more weight and improved their blood pressure and cholesterol. In addition, about one-third (31 percent) of the men in that group had restored sexual function, compared with only 3 percent in the control group.

Losing weight can definitely help men and women prevent such health problems as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and infertility. The exciting news is that both sexes can reap big health benefits by losing relatively small amounts of weight—sometimes as little as 10 pounds.

Hypertension

High blood pressure affects millions of men and women in America. Several studies have confirmed that losing a modest amount of weight—5 to 10 percent of one’s original weight—can lower blood pressure in both hypertensive and nonhypertensive individuals. For somebody weighing 200 pounds, that means losing between 10 and 20 pounds.

In fact, in some cases losing weight normalizes blood pressure among those who have been diagnosed with high blood pressure. And for those taking medications to lower their blood pressure, losing weight often enables them to lower their dosage or go off the pills completely.

Heart Disease

As we saw earlier, since guys are more likely to accumulate extra pounds around the belly, middle-aged men are at a higher risk of developing heart disease than are premenopausal women. But according
to the American Heart Association, coronary heart disease (CHD) is the single greatest cause of death for women as well as men. In a study that included almost 90,000 women between the ages of thirtyfour
and fifty-nine, being overweight or obese was associated with a significantly increased risk of CHD.A gain of even 9 to 22 pounds during adulthood was associated with a 27 percent increased risk of CHD when compared with women whose weight had remained stable.

Once again, studies have found that small weight losses lead to big improvements in cardiovascular risk factors. Researchers estimate that for every kilogram of weight lost—that’s 2.2 pounds—total blood cholesterol is lowered by 1 percent, LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) is lowered by 0.7 percent, and HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) is increased by 0.2 percent.