10 Common Symptoms of Diabetes

However, the majority of individuals with diabetes are not aware they have the condition due to the fact that the symptons, on their own, seem more like annoyances then signs of a dangerous condition. Your best hope is early diagnoses if you want to avoid serious diabetes complications—such as kidney disease, vision problems, and thyroid issues.

Here are the ten most common early warning signs of type 2 diabetes…

1. Numbness

Numbness that starts as a tingling in the hands, fingers, legs, and feet is an early warning sign of diabetes. This occurs due to an increase in blood sugar levels, causing blood vessel restriction to the extremities, and eventually damage to nerve fibers.

2. Increased Urination

Typically, diabetes suffers claim they had an overwhelming urge to urinate, which lead to a diabetes diagnoses.  This increased urination will often result in severe dehydatrtion.

3. Weight Loss

Rapid and unexplained weight loss is common to unmediated type 2 diabetes because the body can’t absorb glucose (sugars) properly.

4. Increase in Appetite

With sudden weight loss often comes an increase in appetite, which might make you feel fortunate at first because you feel like you can eat anything you want without consequences. However, you body is in a diabetic state, robbing your cells of essential energy, which explains the hunger.

5. Blurry Vision

Blurred vision is a common cue of type 2 diabetes. This occurs as glucose levels spike, damaging blood vessels and restricting fluid to the eyes. If a diabetes diagnoses isn’t made, the patient could suffer complete vision loss.

6. Itchy, Dry Skin

When diabetes affects blood circulation, our sweat glands will often become dysfunctional, resulting in dehydrated, flaky, itchy, and irritated skin.

7. Unexplained Fatigue

We’ve already established that insulin resistance leads to an inability to absorb essential energy (sugars). When this occurs, energy levels suffer, causing extreme mental and physical fatigue.

8. Unquenchable Thirst

Increased urge to urinate will leave the body in a state of rapid dehydation. The body will demand that lost liquid be replenished, and an unquenchable thirst will often result.

9. Slow Healing Cuts or Bruises

You might notice that if you suffer a cut or bruise, healing time will take much longer than it normally does.  This is due to high glucose levels weakening the immune system and slowing the rate of healing.

10. Irritated Gums

Often times, type 2 diabetes sufferers notice that their gums become red, swollen, and irritated. They might also literally see the gums receding from the teeth and experience gum infections, and eventually, gum disease as result.

http://www.activebeat.co/your-health/10-common-symptoms-of-diabetes/10/

19 Amazing Benefits Of Cumin/ Jeera For Skin, Hair And Health

 

Spices play an important role in making a dish more flavorful. Cumin is one such spice that forms part of various dishes. Cumin or “jeera” is basically a tiny seed of an annual plant in the parsley family, native to the Mediterranean. A typical cumin seed has a striped pattern of nine ridges and oil canals. It is brownish in colour and oblong shaped, tapering at each extremity with tiny stalks attached. Cumin seeds resemble caraway seeds in appearance but are lighter in colour, hotter to taste, larger in size and unlike caraway, have minute bristles that are hardly visible to the naked eye.

The warm and bitter flavor of this aromatic spice as well as its abundant oil content make it usable in Indian, Mexican, North African, Middle Eastern and western Chinese cuisines. In India, cumin seeds are an important component of curry powder and “garam masala”. They are generally fried or roasted before usage. Cumin seeds are generally available dried or ground to a brownish-green powder.

Cumin seeds are generally available in three colours- amber, white and black. The amber seeds are the most common. The black ones have a complex flavor and cannot be substituted for the other two. Black cumin seeds or nigella are different from cumin seeds though both are similar in appearance. Known as “kalonji” in India, they have a pungent, powerful, sharp and slightly bitter flavor and a spicy-sweet aroma. They are black in color and have a thin crescent shape. Besides its culinary uses, this aromatic spice is known for its medicinal properties since ancient times. Being an excellent source of iron, it aids in digestion, boosts the immune system and has anti-carcinogenic properties.

Black cumin seeds contain about 100 chemical compounds including vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, minerals and fatty acids. They are known for their healing qualities. In Islam, it is believed that they can heal any type of disease except death while in Bible they are referred to as the curative black seeds. Thus, this spice has a rich history and was particularly favored by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. In ancient times, it was even used as a method for payment of taxes and debts.

Jeera Benefits for Health: 

1. For Blood:

Cumin helps to lower blood sugar levels and thus helps in maintaining proper blood content levels in the body. This is a great boon for people suffering from Diabetes.

2. For Iron:

These seeds are very rich in Iron, which makes it an essential natural health ingredient. This iron content helps to treat anaemia, makes blood rich in haemoglobin content and also helps in acting as a carrier of oxygen to the cells in the body.

Cumin seeds contain Thymoquinone, which reduces inflammatory processes and other mediators that cause asthma. They also act as a bronchodilator.

4. Immunity:

This is achieved by its anti-oxidant characteristics that fight against impurities and free radicals thereby making the body immunity better in combating diseases. One of the good benefits of jeera.

5. Anaemia:

Cumin seeds are rich in Iron which is necessary for the formation of haemoglobin in the blood. This inturn is required for the transportation of Oxygen in the body. Thus Cumin protects us from Anaemia.

6. Menstrual Cycle:

Cumin is healthy for women of all age groups and is known to influence healthy menstrual cycle in them.

7. Cancer:

Cancer is a very dangerous disease and is even more dangerous in the last stage as turns fatal. That is why it needs to be taken care of in the initial stage itself. Cumin is helpful in treating colon and breast cancer due to the presence of thymoquinone , dithymoquinone, thymohydroquinone and thymol which are anti-carcinogenic agents.

8. Cold And Respiration:

Cuminis rich in Vitamin C and anti fungal properties which helps it cure Cold and other respiratory problems. Cumin seeds are also suggested for kidney health.

9. Metabolism:

Good metabolism process helps to keep all the other body processes in check. Iron present in Cumin helps to properly maintain our metabolic activity.

10. Digestion:

Enzymes present in Cumin helps to breakdown foods and thus aids in digestion.

Skin Benefits of Cumin

As stated earlier, this aromatic spice is renowned for its medicinal value and health benefits. Hence, it can be beneficial to your skin as well. Some of the cumin benefits in skincare are as follows.

11. Treatment of Boils:

Boils are outlet for the elimination of toxic substances and foreign matters such as microbes etc. Occurrence of boils indicates the accumulation of toxic substances in the body. Regular usage of cumin in your food helps in keeping your skin free from boils, rashes, pimples etc. This is because it has components such as Cuminaldehyde, Thymol and phosphorus which are good detoxifying agents, facilitating regular removal of toxins from the body through the excretory system and not through boils. If you are suffering from acne or boils, you can try applying vinegar with ground cumin seeds.

12. Treatment of Skin Disorders:

Cumin has a high content of vitamin E which keeps your skin healthy and glowing. Besides, the essential oils in cumin have disinfectant and anti-fungal properties which protect your skin from fungal and microbial infections. Topical application of cumin paste on boils, pimples, eczema, psoriasis and other skin disorders facilitates quick healing. A dash of ground cumin powder can also be added to your face pack to treat skin issues. Cumin is also a good source of dietary fiber which helps in the cleaning process and removes toxins.

13. Anti-ageing Benefits:

Vitamin E present in cumin triggers the anti-ageing processes within the body, thus preventing pre mature ageing symptoms. It acts as an antioxidant to combat the free radicals that attack the skin and cause signs of ageing like wrinkles, age spots and sagging skin. This combination of antioxidant effect and antibacterial capacity of cumin provides you with a healthy, beautiful skin that lasts far into your old age.

14. Cures Itchiness and Body Heat:

If you are suffering from body heat and skin itchiness, you can put some cumin seeds in boiled water. After cooling it, take a bath with that water.

15. Treatment of Burning Sensation:

Drinking cumin/jeera water can relieve the burning sensation of the palms and the soles. All you need to do is add one teaspoon of cumin seeds to 4 litres of water and boil. Remove it from the stove and keep it covered. You can drink this water whenever you feel thirsty as well as after your meals. It is advisable to drink it warm in order to reap greater benefits.

16. Cumin Face Pack for Glowing Skin:

You can prepare a face pack by mixing finely ground turmeric and cumin in the ratio 3: 1. In order to prepare a peel off face mask, you can use honey instead of water to mix both the ingredients. Apply this on your face till it dries up. This will make your skin smooth and glowing. Honey can soothe the inflamed tissue and prevents the spices from becoming too dry. If you have sunburns or acne prone or blotchy skin, you can mix plain organic yoghurt with the spices. Apply some jojoba oil after washing off your face.

Hair Benefits of Cumin:

Our hair is composed of many nutrients such as protein, fat, water and carbohydrates. Thus, these nutrients are required to replenish in the body to enable proper growth of hair. Black cumin contains more than 100 nutrients and vitamins to replenish your hair, thus providing you with a healthy mane.

17. Treatment of Hair Loss:

Nigella sativa or black cumin is known to combat thinning of hair, baldness and falling hair. You can mix equal quantities of black cumin oil and olive oil. After a bath, apply this on your hair or on the bald portion of your head. This will promote hair growth as well as treat hair loss. You can also consume black cumin oil in the form of capsules for a few months.

18. Long and Shiny Hair:

Black cumin seeds can provide you with those long and lustrous tresses. For this purpose, boil 1.5 tablespoons of black cumin seeds in ¾ cup of water for 10 minutes. When the mixture cools down, use a strainer to separate the seeds from the water. Add a raw egg yolk to the black cumin water and mix well to get a homogeneous creamy solution. If you want, you can add a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil to the mixture. Massage it on your scalp and allow it to stay for 30 minutes to an hour. Wash off with water. This should be done every week or every alternate week for best results.

19. Treatment of Dandruff:

Oil extract from cumin is a great stimulant, carminative, antioxidant and diuretic. It is often used for massage in aromatherapy and scalp treatments to get rid of dandruff.

How to Select and Store?

• Selection: This spice is widely available in supermarkets, local spice stores and ethnic markets in both whole and ground form. When buying cumin, always prefer whole seeds rather than cumin powder as the latter loses its flavour more quickly and may contain adulterated inferior quality spice mixtures. If you need it in powdered form, these seeds can be ground at home with a mortar and pestle.

Like other dried spices, always select organically grown dried cumin seeds as they are less likely to be irradiated. They should release pleasant yet peppery flavour when squeezed between index finger and thumb which indicates that they are of superior quality. The seeds should not be broken and should be in well packaged conditions. It is advisable to buy spices like cumin from local stores or ethnic markets in your area as they feature an expansive collection of dried herbs and spices that are of superior quality and freshness in comparison to those available in regular markets.

• Storage: Cumin seeds and cumin powder should be stored in a tightly sealed glass container in a cool, dark and dry place. It can be stored for months and the seeds can be milled using a hand mill as and when required. Ground and powdered cumin can be stored in the refrigerator in an air sealed container. It is advisable to use ground cumin as early as possible since it loses its flavour quickly. Whole cumin seeds can stay fresh up to a year whereas cumin powder has a shelf life of 6 months.

Tips for Usage (Cooking/Eating)

Cumin is an important ingredient in Indian kitchen. Both ground and whole cumin seeds are used to season a variety of recipes such as curries, soups and stews. Since they might have raw and unpleasant flavour, whole cumin seeds should be lightly roasted before adding them to any recipe to obtain their full aroma and flavour. Given below are certain tips for using this spice.

1. Jeera Rice:

Jeera rice is a common dish in India which is prepared by roasting cumin seeds in butter, frying rice in it and cooking it with water. It is a tasty combination that can be used to flavour vegetables, chicken and fish dishes. Cumin seeds can also be added to brown rice along with dried apricots and almonds.

2. Flavour In Dal And Curry Varieties:

This spice is a healthy addition to enhance the flavour of legumes such as lentils, garbanzo beans etc. Its aroma and taste greatly complements the recipe made from these foods.

3. Chilli -Cumin Bean Salad:

Chilli- cumin bean salad is a healthy meal that requires minimal preparation. You can prepare this salad by mixing some pinto beans, black beans, drained hominy, chopped onions and tomatoes, and fresh cilantro in a salad bowl. Combine lime juice, canola oil, onions, ground cumin, chilli powder, salt and pepper in a jar. Seal this jar and shake it well. Toss your salad with this cumin mixture and refrigerate it for two hours before serving.

4. Tadka In Dal:

Dal is regarded as a staple diet of Indian cuisine. Whole cumin seeds are used for tempering (providing tadka) this dal, thus imparting a warm flavour. It is also used to temper meat dishes, particularly North Indian tandoori dishes.

5. Seasoning In Sauteed Vegetables:

Healthy sautéed vegetables can be seasoned with cumin. For instance, beet can be easily prepared with cumin. All you need to do is heat a saucepan over medium heat and add canola oil, chopped onion and minced garlic. These should be sautéed until they are slightly cooked. Now add some cumin powder and sauté for two minutes. Add some flour and stir for a minute. After this, add water, salt, chopped tomatoes, and peeled and quartered beet slices. Simmer the mixture for at least half an hour until the beets are cooked and tender.

6. Chicken Preparation:

Besides dal and vegetables, cumin can be used in preparing chicken. For this purpose, grease a large skillet with butter and cook chicken leg quarters in it until they turn brown. Place the chicken pieces on a greased baking dish. Saute the mushroom pieces, chopped apples and sliced onions until the apple pieces become crisp. Add some flour, condensed cream of mushroom, ground cumin, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to this mixture and pour it over the chicken pieces. Covering the baking dish, bake it for an hour at a temperature of 350 degrees. Sprinkle some chilli powder on the cooked chicken and serve with rice.

7. Panch Phoron:

Cumin seeds are used in preparing Bengali spice mixture known as “panch phoron”. It is basically a combination of nigella seeds, black mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds and cumin. This spice mix is used in several dishes such as potato curry, pan roasted potatoes and salmon.

8. Cumin Tea:

A warming and soothing cumin tea can be prepared by boiling cumin seeds in water and allowing it to steep for 8 to 10 minutes.

9. Flavouring In Rasam:

Roasted cumin seeds along with ground black pepper are used in flavouring rasams.  They are toasted with coriander to provide a distinct aroma and are widely used in South Indian and Sri Lankan cuisines.

10. Preparation Of Soups, Sauces And Pickles:

Cumin seeds are used in the preparation of soups, barbecue sauces, pickling and is one of the ingredients in curry powder. Black cumin seeds are used as a spice in Persian and Mughlai cuisine.

Cumin Nutrition Value: (USDA)

Principle	Nutrient Value	Percentage of RDA
Energy	375 Kcal	19%
Carbohydrates	44.24 g	34%
Protein	17.8 g	32%
Total Fat	22.27g	74%
Cholesterol	0 mg	0%
Dietary Fiber	10.5 g	26%
Vitamins
Folates	10 µg	2.5%
Niacin	4.58 mg	28.5%
Pyridoxine	0.435 mg	33%
Riboflavin	0.32 mg	24.5%
Thiamin	0.628 mg	52%
Vitamin A	1270 IU	42%
Vitamin C	7.7 mg	13%
Vitamin E	3.3 mg	22%
Vitamin K	5.4 µg	4.5%
Electrolytes
Sodium	1788 mg	38%
Potassium	68 mg	11%
Minerals
Calcium	931 mg	93%
Copper	0.867 mg	96%
Iron	66.36 mg	829%
Magnesium	366 mg	91%
Manganese	3.3 mg	145%
Phosphorus	499 mg	71%
Zinc	4.8 mg	43.5%
Phyto-nutrients
Carotene-ß	762 µg	–
Crypto-xanthin-ß	0 µg	–
Lutein-zeaxanthin	448 µg	–

We will discuss the nutritional benefits of jeera in a quantity of a table spoon which weighs close to 6 grams.

• It contains 22 calories, 1 gram of fat, which contributes about 11 calories.
• It is a zero cholesterol herb that can be consumed in good proportions without worrying about cholesterol content.
• Carbohydrates are about 3 grams and proteins 1 gram in this quantity of cumin.
• The low saturated fat and sodium contents are low in this spice and it is also a good source of thiamine, phosphorous, thiamine, fiber and copper.
• This amount of cumin contains 2% DV of Vitamin A, 1% DV of Vitamin C, 6% of calcium and 22% of iron.

These daily values are based on a daily 2000 calorie intake of a human body. It is mildly inflammatory and is a good source of proteins and fibers.

So, are you going to include this wonderful seed in your diet and topical applications? Experience all these jeera benefits and let us know if you already have them in your diet and list of topical treatments.

http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/amazing-benefits-of-cumin-jeera/

Health Benefits of Cumin

The health benefits of cumin include its ability to aid in digestion, improve immunity and treat piles, insomnia, respiratory disorders, asthma, bronchitis, common cold, lactation, anemia, skin disorders, boils and cancer.

Many of you might remember having hated those curries and soups which had roasted or fried cumin seeds in them when you were kids, because they looked like small black insects. However, you probably liked the taste. So your mother might have removed these flavorful parts before she served you the food. That was cumin!

Cumin, scientifically known as Cuminun Cyminum belongs to family Apiaceae and is extensively used in culinary practices of the Indian Subcontinent and some other Asian, African and Latin American countries as a condiment or spice. Those who are of the opinion that spices are bad for one’s health should note that cumin can be beneficial for some of the most dangerous diseases, and is generally consider a boost for overall health. Let’s explore just how it benefits your health in the section below.

Health Benefits of Cumin

The health benefits of cumin include the following:

Digestion: Cumin is extremely good for digestion and related problems.  The very aroma of cumin, which comes from an aromatic organic compound called Cuminaldehyde, the main component of its essential oil, activates our salivary glands in our mouth, which facilitates the primary digestion of food. Next is thymol, a compound present in cumin, which stimulates the glands that secrete acids, bile and enzymes responsible for complete digestion of the food in the stomach and the intestines. Cumin is also Carminative, which means that it relieves from you from gas troubles and thereby improves digestion and appetite. Due to its essential oils, magnesium and sodium content, cumin promotes digestion and also gives relief for stomach-aches when taken with hot water.

Piles: The main cause behind piles (hemorrhoids) is constipation added with infections in the wound in the anal tract, which are also caused by constipation. Cumin, because of its dietary fiber content and carminative, stimulating, antifungal and antimicrobial properties, acts as a natural laxative in powdered form. These characteristics are due to the presence of essential oils comprised mainly of Cuminaldehyde and certain pyrazines. Adding cumin to your diet also helps in healing up of infections or wounds in the digestive and excretory system and speeds up digestion as well. That pretty much means that cumin clears up all of the symptoms and causes of hemorrhoids, so keep that it mind when you start itching!

Diabetes: Although research is still ongoing, early studies report that cumin, among a number of other spices, can have a powerful effect in preventing diabetes by reducing the chances of hypoglycemia. The animals that were tested showed a sharp decline in hypoglycemia when fed cumin seeds in their diet, and they also showed a decrease in glucosuria, which is a condition where the urine contains too much glucose, also resulting in hypoglycemia and diabetes. Human testing is ongoing, but early reports show that cumin can be a very powerful tool in the battle against diabetes!

Insomnia: This is a very peculiar property of cumin. It is a stimulant as well as a relaxant at the same time. This property cannot be attributed to a single component alone, just as causes of insomnia cannot be attributed to a single cause. However, studies show that the proper intake of vitamins (particularly B-complex) and good digestion help to induce a sound sleep. Cumin helps in both of these factors. Some of the components of cumin essential oil are hypnotic in nature and have tranquilizing effects, which also help to relieve stress and anxiety that commonly causes insomnia.

Respiratory Disorders, Asthma, Bronchitis: The presence of caffeine (the stimulating agent), and the richly aromatic essential oils (the disinfectants) make cumin an ideal anticongestive combination for those suffering from respiratory disorders such as asthma and bronchitis. It acts as expectorant, meaning that it loosens up the accumulated phlegm and mucus in the respiratory tracts and makes it easier to eliminate them from the system via sneezing or coughing up and spitting. By eliminating as much of the mucus and phlegm as possible, it can inhibit the formation of additional material and help to heal the initial condition that led to its formation in the first place.

Common Cold: The common cold is a viral infection which affects our body frequently when our immune system becomes weakened or vulnerable. Again, the essential oils present in cumin act as disinfectants and help fight viral infections which can cause the common cold. Cumin also suppresses the development of coughing in the respiratory system since it dries up the excess mucus. Cumin is rich in iron and has considerable amount of vitamin-C, which are essential for a healthy immune system and keeps infections from forming or becoming worse. Vitamin-C is also a natural antioxidant, so it defends against other infections and toxins as well, further boosting the immune system.

Lactation: Cumin is rich in iron and thus very good for lacting mothres as well as for women who are undergoing menses or who are pregnant, since they are more in need of iron than others. Moreover, cumin is said to help ease and increase secretion of milk in lactating women due to the presence of thymol, which tends to increase secretions from our glands, including milk, which is a secretion from the mammary glands. Also, cumin is more beneficial if taken with honey. Cumin has remarkable amount of calcium (more than 900 mg per 100 grams) which accounts for over 90% of our daily requirement of calcium. This calcium is an important constituent of milk and hence cumin is very good for lactating mothers.

Anemia: As stated above, cumin is very rich in ironn (more than 66 mg. in every 100 grams) which is more than 5 times the daily requirement of iron for an adult. This iron is the main constituent of hemoglobin in the red blood corpuscles of blood. It is hemoglobin which transfers oxygen (as the oxide of iron) to the body’s cells and whose deficiency causes anemia. So, cumin can be a nutritious additive to daily diet for anemic people and avoid the symptoms of anemia like fatigue, anxiety, cognitive malfunction, and digestive issues.

Concentration and Cognitive Malfunction: The amount of iron in cumin leads to increased hemoglobin production and subsequent prevention of anemia, but that increased blood flow has other benefits as well. When your blood circulation is in top form, adequate amounts of oxygen are able to reach the organs and the brain, leading to optimal performance of those bodily systems. Proper amounts of oxygen and iron in the brain lead to increased cognitive performance and a decrease in cognitive disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. For other organs, increased oxygenation increases efficiency and speeds up the metabolism, which can boost your overall health, increase strength, and prevent signs of aging.

Skin Disorders: Almost everyone knows that vitamin-E is good for the maintenance of skin and the prevention of premature aging symptoms. It keeps the skin young and glowing. This vitamin is also present in abundance in cumin. The essential oils present in cumin have disinfectant and antifungal properties. This prevents any microbial and fungal infection from affecting the skin. Not all skin issues are disorders or infections, some of them are simply signs of aging. Vitamin E acts as an antioxidant in this regard and combats the free radicals that attack the skin and result in signs of premature aging like wrinkles, age spots, and sagging skin. This, combined with the antibacterial capacity of cumin, makes for healthy, beautiful skin that lasts far into your old age.

Boils: Boils are outlets for the removal of toxic substances and foreign matters such as microbes from the body. This means that they are symptoms which show that a high amount of toxic substances have accumulated in the body. In this way, cumin can help you a great deal. Those who regularly use cumin in food have a significant reduction in the occurance of boils, rashes, pimples, and other signs of excess toxin content. Components such as cuminaldehyde, thymol, and phosphorus are good detoxifying agents which help in the regular removal of toxins from the body. The healthy way of removing toxins is through the excretory system, not through boils.

Immunity: As discussed above, an abundance of iron, the presence of essential oils, vitamin-C, and vitamin-A in cumin boosts our immune system in a number of ways. Vitamin C is one of the most powerful antioxidants that we have in our body, and it also stimulates the function and activity of white blood cells. As an antioxidant, vitamin C fights the detrimental effects of free radicals, which are the dangerous byproducts of cellular metabolism. They are constantly being created in the body, and therefore, must be constantly eliminated. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals that lead to many diseases, including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Cancer: Cumin itself has detoxifying and chemopreventive properties, and accelerates the secretion of detoxifying and anticarcinogenic enzymes from the glands, as it also does to other secretions. Furthermore, it has beneficial antioxidants like vitamin-C and vitamin-A within its chemical makeup, in addition to those essential oils. Besides having countless other benefits, the antioxidants have anticarcinogenic properties too, and those found in cumin are particularly good for colon cancer prevention.

Other benefits: Even more? Cumin is also beneficial in treating renal coli, weak memory, insect bites and painful stings. With all of these benefits, how could you say no? Add some cumin to your diet as soon as you can!

http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/seed-and-nut/health-benefits-of-cumin.html

Last Update: March 8, 2012.

Being overweight increases the risk of health problems, but what benefits can you expect if you lose weight? Is there an immediate health pay-off, or is it impossible to get quick results? Losing weight and then keeping it off usually takes a lot of motivation, because we really have to change our lifestyles if we want to change our weight for the long term. Changing long-established habits and patterns of behavior is hardly ever easy.

If we want to lose weight, not achieving our goals can make us feel quite bad about ourselves. Being a normal weight is important for our health, but that is not the only issue for many of us. Our society places great importance on how we look. This is why we can become unhappy or even depressed if we feel unattractive because of our body size. On the other hand, there is also the view that overweight people just enjoy life and have more fun than other people. Contradictory messages like this are common when it comes to weight and weight loss. So what happens emotionally when you lose weight? How many of your problems could losing weight solve?

Unfortunately, despite all the claims about weight and weight loss, there are not many reliable answers to these questions. But some of the research could help you find your way through the maze of claims and counter-claims about weight loss.

How much weight do you need to lose to get healthier?

Firstly, you do not have to lose weight if you are not genuinely overweight. And even if you are, weight is not the only important issue, either. What is actually most critical is the amount of fat in your body, and where that fat has built up. Muscle, for example, is quite heavy. So if you gain weight because you have increased your muscle bulk, the extra bit of weight is no problem at all.

Two approaches are commonly used to determine if people are overweight: the body mass index (BMI) and waist measurement. The BMI helps to determine how much you weigh in relation to your height. Waist measurements give you an idea of how fat is distributed in your body.

The BMI is the most common way to try to work out if people are overweight or very overweight (obese). It measures the relationship between weight and height. People who have a BMI over 30 are considered to be obese. Being obese is a greater risk to health than being overweight. People who have a BMI between 25 and 30 are usually considered to be overweight. Being overweight alone does not necessarily cause health problems, but it could be a problem if the person already has certain illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes.

The BMI scale cannot always be used in this way because, for example, a certain BMI is associated with different health risks in people from South Asia compared to people from Europe. The same is true for waist measurements. A waist measurement of 88 cm or more could put European women at a higher risk of health problems, while for European men, more than 102 cm could be a sign of increased health risks. This is also true even if their weight is within the normal range.

You can get a better idea of how fat is distributed in your body by looking at the relationship between your waist and your hips. If you have a relatively big amount of belly fat, your risk of disease is higher. A more "apple-shaped" person with a "beer belly" and narrow hips faces higher health risks than someone who does not have much fat stored around their belly. Abdominal (belly) fat in particular increases your risk of heart disease. If your body fat tends to be stored around your legs, hips and bottom rather than your belly, then it is less likely to be a health problem. This is often called being "pear-shaped", because you are smaller on the top and rounder lower down.

Being too worried about your weight can itself become a problem. If you are not in fact overweight, but keep losing weight, then you could quickly become unhealthy.

Are there any quick health results that I can get from losing weight?

Being overweight or obese increases your risk of long-term health problems that could shorten your life, like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Preventing these serious illnesses is often the main health reason why people try to lose weight if they are obese.

Reducing your risk for serious life-threatening illnesses is an important health benefit. Many people may feel that the best reward for losing weight is feeling healthier and seeing an improvement. One of the first benefits you might notice is having more energy. If you are losing weight with the help of exercise, your fitness will be increasing. So you could quite quickly be able to climb more stairs without getting out of breath, for instance.

If you have osteoarthritis in the knees, you are likely to experience a quick improvement there, too. Being overweight or obese puts a lot of stress on your knee joints in particular. If you have been overweight for a long time, your risk of osteoarthritis will increase quite a lot as well. Losing weight can prevent you from developing osteoarthritis of the knee joints. If you already have painful knees, losing weight can relieve the symptoms.

If you are obese and you have osteoarthritis in your knees, you are likely to notice that you can move your joints more easily if you manage to lose 10% of your body weight in three months. But even if you only lose 5% of your body weight in five months, you could still feel a real difference in what your knees can do. If you are 80 kg (about 177 pounds), then 5% of your body weight would be 4 kg (about 9 pounds). You can read more about the positive effects exercise and losing weight have on osteoarthritis here.

One of the other important health benefits of losing weight may be that your doctor might decide that you can take less of the medication you have been taking, or stop taking it altogether. This may include drugs to lower your blood pressure or cholesterol level, insulin for type 2 diabetes, and other drugs to lower your blood sugar.

Of course, how you lose the weight also matters: there are healthy and unhealthy ways to lose weight. Some weight-loss drugs have adverse effects that can harm some people’s health. One drug, rimonabant (brand name: Acomplia) had its license for use in Europe suspended by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in October 2008 because it had caused serious depression. And in January 2010, authorization for the drug sibutramine was suspended by the same agency. They had determined that the potential benefits of sibutramine did not outweigh the possible harmful effects, particularly cardiovascular disease.

The U.S. regulatory agency FDA ruled in May 2010 that all medication containing orlistat, also available over-the-counter in low dosage, must include a warning about serious liver injury as part of its package insert in the United States. There had been individual cases of this in people who had taken, among other drugs, orlistat. Yellowish skin, itchiness, noticeably darker urine, light-colored stool and upper-abdominal symptoms can all be signs of damage to the liver. The agency recommends suspending the use of medication and consulting a doctor if these symptoms occur.

The latest diet craze in women's magazines will probably not give you the results you want either. Generally speaking, you lose weight by reducing how much energy you consume (calories from fat and carbohydrates in food) and by increasing how much energy you use (by being more active). If you lose weight but smoke more, the smoking could do more harm to your health than a few kilograms of extra weight will.

How can I keep the weight off permanently?

Losing weight is hard enough, but keeping it off for the long term can be even harder. To keep weight off permanently, you need to have made some real and sustainable changes to your lifestyle. Because your previous habits led to your being overweight, going back to those habits means the weight would be quite likely to return. This means that it is important to find new habits that you can really live with for the long term: for example, a form of exercise that you really enjoy, or that is at least very practical for you to keep up.

One of the main things you can do to keep your weight down is to exercise, as well as change your eating habits. Researchers have found that when people who are overweight or obese lose weight with a combination of diet and exercise, they lose on average 20% more weight than if they only diet. For the people in that research, this meant an average of 3 kg extra weight loss due to exercise. And this improvement also held over the longer term: a year later, the people who had exercised still weighed less than the people who had only dieted.

It is believed that people really need to be getting at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on at least five days a week to stay healthy and fit. "Moderate-intensity exercise" means doing something that increases your heart rate. This means that walking very slowly does not count, but walking briskly does. You do not have to exercise so strenuously that you are out of breath, but you do need to exert yourself at least a little to get a benefit.

Brisk walking has been shown to help very inactive people get more exercise into their everyday lives. People who work full-time, for example, would get the recommended 30 minutes of exercise by walking at a fairly brisk pace for 15 minutes to and from work every day. Regular brisk walking has many advantages, such as not needing special equipment and causing fewer injuries than many other forms of exercise.

People who walked on average an extra three hours per week for eight months were able to lose around one kilogram and two per cent of their body fat through the walking alone. They improved their cardiovascular fitness (the strength of their heart and circulation) and there was a small positive impact on their blood pressure. You can read more about that research here, and about ways that can help people walk more here.

How can I keep motivated?

If you are having trouble losing weight and keeping it off, then getting support from your doctor or someone else who encourages your progress could help.

It is important that the changes you make are suited to your physical fitness and your state of health. Your doctor can help you consider the options. The key to long-term success is to find ways that are practical for you. You may have to explore several options before you find something that works. If you have already lost weight but get stuck at some point, you might need to try something new to start making progress again.

It is important not to give up completely, even if you do have setbacks or some difficult times. Seeing a reduction in your waist and losing weight is probably the best feedback to motivate yourself, but it can also be disheartening if nothing is changing.

Some people watch their cholesterol levels as a sign of whether their risk of heart disease is going down, but this is not always a guarantee that your health risks are decreasing. Nevertheless, it can be very encouraging to see measurements like your cholesterol or blood pressure fall.

The health risks that come from being overweight are a combination of many factors. This means that health interventions do not necessarily have an immediate effect. For example, losing weight might not always be enough to reduce your blood pressure in the short term. You can read more about the research on this here . So, just because you are not seeing immediate results, it does not mean that it is not worthwhile to stick with your new habits.

IQWiG, the publisher of this website, is looking for research that shows ways of reducing your blood pressure without drugs. We will update this information as the IQWiG's assessments become available. 

What if I am losing weight but it does not make me feel as good as I expected?

Many people who lose weight will feel better physically and emotionally. But even if you do not feel better or are disappointed with the results you have achieved, the weight loss could still be making you healthier.

Other ways of losing weight might make you feel happier about yourself. For example, some people feel better with the support they get from a group of others who are also trying to lose weight. Others feel better if they go to group sessions that help them to learn to accept their bodies and improve their body image. Doing regular exercise gives some people a lot of satisfaction and makes them feel emotionally better, but not everyone experiences this.

Losing weight is not the only way to improve your health. Getting more exercise, even if it is not reducing your weight, can also have other benefits for your well being. You can feel good about yourself and be healthy even if you are not a normal weight for your height. Getting to know your body and accepting yourself might be more important for your happiness than losing weight.

Some people will have thought for a long time, “I'll feel much better and happier if I just lose some weight . . .” So if they do not end up with the results they had hoped for when they lose weight, they may feel very disappointed. Even though being overweight can cause a lot of problems in your life, the weight itself might not be responsible for all the problems that you think it is. This means that losing weight will not necessarily solve all your problems. Expecting life to become easier by losing weight alone is unrealistic.

It is difficult to lose weight and then keep it off. If you have been able to do it, it is an important achievement. Having done it, you may also find that you are better able to take on other challenges and succeed with them as well.

Author: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG)