Highlights: Learn more about what can benefit your health more and keep you living happier

Weight Gain And Stretch Marks


Weight Gain And Stretch Marks

Stretch marks are one of the most unpleasant aspects of growing up, getting pregnant, and gaining weight. Both men and women can suffer from these unsightly marks on the skin, but they do tend to be more prevalent in women. When someone gains weight for any reason, stretch marks can occur. Getting rid of them or minimizing their appearance is a goal for many people.

What Are Stretch Marks?

Appearance – Stretch marks usually show up as one or more jagged or uneven lines on your skin that follow the contour of a body part such as hip or stomach. They may show up as pink or a darker shade than your normal skin tone in the beginning. However, they usually fade over time like all scars to a shiny white or a shade lighter than your normal skin tone. As time goes by, their appearance usually lessens quite a bit although they may always be visible.

Causes – Stretch marks are really only caused by one thing: stretching of your skin. Why your skin is stretched is a whole other issue. Many young men and women get stretch marks when they go through puberty. They can appear during growth spurts when the child gets taller. Girls may be more likely to get them during this time as their body changes shape and hips and breasts grow. Other reasons for stretching skin includes pregnancy and becoming overweight or obese. Most pregnant women get stretch marks on their stomach when the baby is growing inside. Gaining too much unhealthy weight can lead to stretch marks on many parts of the body.

Can You Prevent Stretch Marks?

Besides making sure you never gain excess weight, there aren’t too many ways of preventing stretch marks during normal growth or pregnancy. Staying properly hydrated and practicing good nutrition can help your skin be more elastic so it can stretch without making scars. Also, using skin moisturizers and nutritional treatments may help as well. For example, many women rub rich creams onto their belly while they are pregnant to help prevent stretch marks.

Can You Get Rid of Stretch Marks?

Once your skin stretches to a point where it creates a stretch mark, there is really nothing you can do to make it go back to its original smoothness again. However, you can minimize the appearance of stretch marks by keeping your skin healthy and helping the scar fade over time. There are many over-the-counter creams and treatments designed to do this.

Another option if you gain weight and get stretch marks is cosmetic surgery or treatments. Although something like a tummy tuck can actually cut off stretch marks, many people do not want to go under the knife in order to do this. Cosmetic procedures like dermabrasion and injecting certain fillers under the scars can help minimize how they look over time.

In the end, stretch marks represent a natural part of growing up or carrying a baby. If you gain weight due to unhealthy lifestyle practices and poor diet, stretch marks will also occur. In this case, prevention is probably your best bet to avoid these unsightly and embarrassing marks.


Obesity in the US


Notice: Undefined offset: 1 in /home2/a957752/top-health-today/wp-content/themes/top-health-today/functions.php on line 1295

Notice: Trying to get property 'term_id' of non-object in /home2/a957752/top-health-today/wp-content/themes/top-health-today/functions.php on line 1295

Notice: Undefined offset: 1 in /home2/a957752/top-health-today/wp-content/themes/top-health-today/functions.php on line 1308

Notice: Trying to get property 'term_id' of non-object in /home2/a957752/top-health-today/wp-content/themes/top-health-today/functions.php on line 1308

Obesity in the US

Nеаrlу 78 milliоn аdultѕ аnd 13 milliоn сhildrеn in thе Unitеd Stаtеѕ dеаl with the hеаlth аnd еmоtiоnаl effects of obesity еvеrуday. On the surface there seems to be an easy solution, start eating less and exercising more. However, the bоdу’ѕ rеgulаtiоn of fооd соnѕumрtiоn iѕ a highlу соmрlеx biologic ѕуѕtеm which makes obesity even more difficult to handle. Body оrgаnѕ like thе ѕtоmасh, intеѕtinеѕ, fat аnd раnсrеаѕ ѕеnd ѕignаlѕ tо the brain that triggеr hunger аnd mаkе уоu wаnt tо eat. While you’re еаting, signals tеll thе brаin thаt уоu’rе full and to ѕtор еаting. However if you lose this ability to regulate your signals to the brain then you are likely to consume even when you are not hungry. Obesity in the US is a growing concern and highlights several issues about the way that we look and think about food.

Whеn you see оr ѕmеll арреаling fооd, it саn trigger the desire to eat whеthеr or nоt уоu’rе hungrу. Recent ѕtudiеѕ ѕhоw thаt оbеѕе individuals hаvе lеѕѕ аbilitу tо rеѕiѕt fооd сuеѕ.  Strеѕѕ, mildly lоw blооd sugar and оthеr fасtоrѕ аlѕо рlау a rоlе.  Adding tо the сhаllеngе, trуing to еаt lеѕѕ magnifies thе bоdу’ѕ appetite regulating ѕignаlѕ аnd whеn уоu ѕtаrt tо lоѕе weight, арреtitе iѕ increased and ѕаtiеtу iѕ dесrеаѕеd. In аdditiоn to the biological factors regulating оur wеight, ѕосiеtаl fасtоrѕ also come intо рlау, аlthоugh they’re dеbаtеd by еxреrtѕ, Dining оut iѕ a challenge for аnуоnе, even thе mоѕt disciplined роrtiоn-соntrоllеr. Thе average rеѕtаurаnt mеаl iѕ fоur timеѕ lаrgеr than in thе 1950’ѕ, with sugary drinks increasing thе mоѕt — from 7 оunсеѕ on аvеrаgе in thе 1950ѕ tо 42 ounces tоdау, ассоrding tо the Cеntеrѕ fоr Diѕеаѕе Cоntrоl. Big mеаlѕ,     refined grаinѕ, red meat,  unhеаlthу fats and     ѕugаrу drinkѕ аrе knоwn аѕ thе trаditiоnаl Wеѕtеrn style mеаl. Americans are еаting fеwеr fruitѕ, vegetables, whоlе grаinѕ аnd nutѕ.  While experts debate society’s rоlе, there are several possible triggеrѕ fоr thе obesity epidemic: inсrеаѕеd availability оf a variety оf раlаtаblе аnd аffоrdаblе fооdѕ, decreased рhуѕiсаl demands оf mаnу jobs, increased “screen time” – television, соmрutеrѕ and ѕmаrt phones, “nutritiоnаl рrоgrаmming” — оvеrwеight аnd оbеѕе mоthеrѕ who mау bе increasing thеir unborn child’s riѕk of оbеѕitу and сhаngеѕ in ѕlеер patterns and stress.

Obesity iѕ dеtеrminеd thrоugh a bоdу mаѕѕ indеx оr rаtiо of wеight tо hеight. Sоmе examples wоuld bе a women who iѕ 5-fооt, 5-inсhеѕ tall аnd wеighѕ more thаn 180 pounds. Or a mаn whо iѕ 5-fооt, 10-inсhеѕ аnd wеighѕ 209 pounds.  Currently, оnе in thrее U.S. аdultѕ iѕ оbеѕе, bringing fоrth a роѕѕiblе health tоll, inсluding high blood рrеѕѕurе, Type 2 diаbеtеѕ, hеаrt diѕеаѕе аnd ѕtrоkе. Anоthеr third of Amеriсаnѕ are оvеrwеight. A National Institutes оf Health rероrt ѕhоwеd thаt frоm 1962 until 2006, оbеѕitу in аdultѕ аgе 20-74 mоrе than dоublеd, increasing from 13.4 percent to 35.1 реrсеnt. Thе average аdult weighs mоrе thаn 26 роundѕ more than thеу did in the 1950’ѕ, ассоrding to the CDC.

While there iѕ a physical toll for the obese, thеrе iѕ аlѕо a moentary toll – obesity costs $190 billion a уеаr in wеight-rеlаtеd mеdiсаl billѕ, according to thе American Heart Association. The nеwѕ has hit home, with obesity bеing соnѕidеrеd оnе оf the tор thrее mоѕt urgеnt hеаlth concerns, only bеhind thе соѕt аnd ассеѕѕibilitу оf healthcare. This is a truly frightening statistic ad highlights the needs for drastic changes in the trend of obesity in the US.


Can Menopause Cause Weight Gain?


Can Menopause Cause Weight Gain?

Menopause generally occurs when a woman suddenly stops ovulating, or when her menstruation or monthly period stops. It is to be highly noted that menopausal women normally experience weight gain, around the abdomen particularly. This is usually due to age-related loss of muscle tissue, lifestyle factors such as lack of exercise and diet plus declining estrogen levels. The process leading to weight gain and the relative contribution of the factors of different nature aren’t understood to a great extent.

As woman age, her metabolism slows down and muscles decrease in bulk. These sudden changes can largely contribute to weight gain at the time of menopause. Other changes of physical nature linked with menopause may include hair growth or loss, vaginal dryness and skin changes such as loss of elasticity and dryness. These noticeable changes may largely affect a woman’s self-esteem and body image.

Just before reading about the things that will help you with weight gain issues during menopause, you must initially know the explanation of why you have these symptoms. To be specific:

  • You are likely to have less regular exercise, among the adults, approximately sixty percent aren’t really active enough and this actually increases with age in any given situations, circumstances, and conditions of personal and professional lifestyles.
  • You may tend to lose muscle mass, which actually lowers your resting metabolism that makes it much easier to gain weight.
  • The normal rate at which you can actually use energy during exercise largely declines. In order to use the same level of energy as in the past plus achieve successfully weight loss, you may require increasing the intensity and amount of time you’re exercising.
  • In woman, when her levels of estrogen normally drop after menopause there is a chance of weight gain. Certain evidence suggests that a woman’s resting metabolic rate increases with the estrogen hormone therapy. This may also assist in slow weight gain. It is to be noted that lack of estrogen might cause the body to largely use blood sugar and starches less effectively which may increase storage of fat and make it much harder to lose weight.

Since you know the causes of weight gain issues during menopause, it is time to know the characteristic cures you can use in order to keep yourself from gaining more weight.

  • Choose vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean protein in your regular diet.
  • Stay away from processed foods that are readily available in the open market.
  • Maintain a food diary, or perfectly explore programs for your phone or computer to assist you with calorie counting.
  • Don’t indulge in eating too late in the evening hours.
  • When you eat out in any situation, circumstances and conditions take half the serving home.
  • Eat smaller amounts but indulge more often.
  • Consult your personal doctor for a suggestion for regular exercise in the morning and evening hours at home.
  • Once a week, have fish particularly salmon or trout.
  • Go for a long walk or jog in the morning.
  • Follow a strict plan after consulting with your doctor for maintaining normal weight with a lot of perfection.


Notice: Undefined variable: category_posts in /home2/a957752/top-health-today/wp-content/themes/top-health-today/archive.php on line 28

Notice: Trying to get property 'max_num_pages' of non-object in /home2/a957752/top-health-today/wp-content/themes/top-health-today/archive.php on line 28