Overweight & With Foot Pain? Here's Why!
According to a recent study, more than 1.9 billion adults in the world are reported to be overweight and out of that number is an estimate of 300,000 fatalities per year (1). Now ever since we’re kids, we have been informed about the many health risks and dangers of being overweight. We we’re told about the risk of getting Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, Stroke, Sleep Apnea and a lot more (2) but one thing that is not commonly discussed is the effect it has on our foot health.
Now most of us don’t know this but adding as little as 1 pound above your ideal weight already increases the pressure on your knees, ankles and hips by as much as eight pounds! Go ahead and try and compute it for yourself. How much are you over your ideal weight? Well, you are lucky if you only exceeded your ideal weight by 1 or 2 pounds but what about those with more? Just imagine the amount of pressure their feet and ankle carry on a daily basis.
This pressure that your extra weight is giving your knees, ankles and feet are being collected overtime and is becoming the main reason why your foot health is terrible. Overtime, your connective tissues stretch out, natural fat pads in your soles compresses down and your muscles must work harder to do their jobs. You’ll become more prone to overuse injuries such as tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, and arthritis. More serious issues like peripheral artery disease and diabetes are also more common among those who are obese (3).
Unfortunately, unlike any other reason for poor foot health, obesity or being overweight is not something to be dealt with using a single-pronged approach. Yes, it may be relieved by using insoles, taking painkillers or buying supportive or appropriate shoes but those are just short-term solutions. They are just solving the symptoms but not really trying to end the root cause.
If you really love yourself and you don’t want any potentially life-altering effects, weight loss by proper diet and exercise is your way to go. You should not wait until all of this gets worse, do something about it while you can. Life is amazing and going on adventures is even exciting so don’t let your weight or your foot pain stop you from living your life. And remember, a progress is a progress no matter how small that is.
Resources:
Previous