I’m often asked whether losing weight would help a particular problem. For example, “If I lost a few kilos, would it help my back pain?”.
I think that if someone is overweight, then losing a few kilos is a good idea anyway, as there are so many general health benefits to maintaining a healthy weight.
But I wasn’t really sure if it would help a particular injury. What I mean by that is I think if you have back pain, you should try to fix your back. If you just lose weight, but don’t try to fix your back, I doubt your back pain will disappear.
Well I might have to change my mind. A new study shows that losing weight takes a lot of pressure out of your joints.
An 18 month study of overweight and obese people concluded that “for each pound of body weight lost, there is a 4-pound reduction in knee joint stress among overweight and obese people with osteoarthritis of the knee.”
That’s right, “the benefits of weight loss may be multiplied fourfold for people who suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee.”
The benefits can stack up quickly. If on every step you have less pressure in your knee as a result of losing just 1 pound (half a kilo), by the time you have walked a mile you would have experienced 4,800 less pounds of pressure in your knee.
It’s annoying these stats are all in pounds and miles, but I’m sure you are seeing the message here – a little bit of weight loss can make a massive difference!
To see the full article click this link.
