What 5% Weight Loss Can Do for Your Health

Even a small amount of weight loss can have a good impact on the health of obese people.

A study of 40 men and women with diabetes (aged 32-56) showed that losing 5% of body weight can have major health benefits through better control of insulin in the liver, fat and muscle tissue. This change reduces the risk of serious diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

If people with diabetes want to improve their health, they should lose 5 to 10% of their weight, says Samuel Klein, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Washington. But until now, researchers have focused more on the health effects of losing 5% of your weight than 10%, because losing 10% is harder to do.

The researchers divided the tested diabetic patients into 2 groups of 20 people. The first group maintained a constant weight during the test, and the second group was asked to gradually lose 5%, 10%, and 15% of their weight. Nineteen people in the second group managed to lose 5% of their weight, and nine went on to lose weight to 10% and 15%.

The study found that most of the benefits in insulin sensitivity occurred at a 5% weight loss. The research was published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

"If you're obese and you have a metabolic disease, you usually have insulin resistance, fatty liver, etc., but if you don't have diabetes, as long as you lose 5% of your weight and keep it going, you're going to get better," Klein said. There are huge benefits to the body. It doesn't need to be very slim."

Many obesity-related diseases are caused by the body's inability to control insulin. When handled properly, insulin slows the release of fatty acids into the bloodstream. In the liver, insulin suppresses the production of cholesterol, keeping blood sugar levels low. In muscle, insulin stimulates the absorption of glucose and also keeps blood sugar levels low. Insulin is also an important regulatory hormone behind the pathogenesis of many cardiac and metabolic diseases.

Stephen O'Rahilly of the University of Cambridge says the findings are strong evidence that even small amounts of weight loss can have health benefits.

What can 5% do for you?

1. Reduce joint stress

Adding just 10 pounds can put 40 pounds of stress on your knees and other lower body joints. That will make them wear out faster. Excess fat can also lead to inflammation -- when chemicals in the body damage your own tissues, including your joints, over time. Losing a little weight can also alleviate these effects. If you can lose weight successfully, it will greatly reduce the chance of getting arthritis later in life.

2. Reduce the chance of getting cancer

One study showed that older women who lost at least 5% of their body weight had a 12% lower chance of developing breast cancer. There's no such clear-cut evidence that losing weight protects you from other types of damage, but some of the changes that occur when you lose weight shows it has a protective effect. For example, when people who are overweight lose weight, they will have lower levels of some cancer-related hormones than before, such as estrogen, insulin, and androgen.

3. Improve sleep quality

People who are overweight or obese can also have fat deposits in the neck. When resting at night, due to muscle relaxation, tissues such as fat in the neck will losing support, compressing the airway and affecting breathing. Insufficient inhaled oxygen can affect many organs and tissues of the body, especially the heart and brain. Losing weight will help to improve nighttime sleep apnoea. In addition, it can improve the quality of sleep, let the body get better rest, and help the recovery and maintenance of various functions in the body.

4. Prevent diabetes

If you have a family history of diabetes or a current state of impaired glucose regulation, you should start losing weight. The stability of blood sugar levels in the body is mainly maintained by insulin (lowering blood sugar) and glucagon (raising blood sugar). Belly fat can cause marked insulin resistance, which means that insulin is unable to exert its blood sugar-lowering effect. Therefore, weight loss can reduce insulin resistance, combined with dietary control, and can reduce the use of hypoglycemic drugs.

5. Lower blood pressure

Weight gain is an important risk factor for elevated blood pressure. The type of obesity is closely related to the occurrence of hypertension, and abdominal obesity is prone to hypertension. For every 1kg of weight loss, blood pressure drops by 1mmHg. You should pay attention to a low-salt and low-fat diet, increase the intake of fresh vegetables and fruits, exercise appropriately, and monitor blood pressure regularly.

6. Have a better mood

Losing weight may help fight the blues. Scientists are still trying to figure out why, but better body image and better sleep may be part of it. In one study, overweight people with depression felt better after losing an average of 8% of their body weight. Other research shows that even after 2 years, as long as you keep losing weight, you will continue to feel better.