Optimal Body Blog

How Excess Sugar Makes You Gain Weight Among the plethora of unhealthy food ingredients and additives that have burst onto the scene in recent decades, it is probably good old-fashioned sugar that is causing the most damage. Sugar is in scores of processed foods and added to many others in some form or another. One…

How Does Being Overweight Contribute to Heart Disease? Being obese or overweight carries several health risks, one of the more serious being heart disease. In the United States, around 35% of the adults are considered obese, which means they have a BMI of 30 or higher. If the percentages continue to climb as the population…

How Much Fiber Do I Need to Lose Weight? One of the more confusing aspects of nutrition and healthy eating is fiber. Most people know that it is necessary for good overall health and colon health, but it is also beneficial for weight loss. Of course, simply stating that fiber is good for weight loss…

3 Useful Exercise Concepts to Include In Your Weight Loss Strategy Whether you are obese or just need to lose a few pounds to get to your ideal weight, exercise must be part of the equation. There are multitudes of exercises that will make a difference, but it can become overwhelming when you aren’t sure…

Will Losing Weight Help Me Eliminate Joint Pain? One of the negative side effects of carrying excess weight is joint pain. It stands to reason, that your muscles, joints and ligaments would be heavily burdened by having to cart around more weight than they were designed to handle. For someone who is 50 or 100…

The Psychological Effects of Obesity What you see on the outside of someone who is overweight or obese is only a small part of the equation. Much of the time, it is the psychological and social effects that are even more damaging than the physical ones. Obesity has been linked to health conditions such as…