How Vitamin C can Help Treat Obesity

How Vitamin C can Help Treat Obesity

By Brigitta Schwulst

Obesity is a news headline on an almost daily basis and yet, the latest article from the LA Times indicates that obese Americans now outnumber those Americans who are merely considered to be overweight.

As someone who was once classified as being “obese”, I know that most people who suffer from this condition are sick and tired of reading about it and to some extent feel persecuted because of their weight. But the truth of the matter is that this is neither about appearance nor about those stick-thin models seen in magazines.

Many of my friends lost the battle with obesity because there is a perception that the mountain is too high to climb; that you will never be able to lose enough weight to look like those models; that it is impossible to win your battle against obesity.

This is far from the truth. You don’t have to lose hundreds of pounds overnight to be able to change your life and reduce your risk of developing heart disease or diabetes, nor to reduce your back pain, cholesterol levels and high blood pressure.

Here are some astounding facts about what kind of weight loss can change and even save your life:

  • If you lose a mere 8 pounds, you could bring your blood pressure down and, in some cases, back to normal levels.
  • Lose 11– 15 pounds and you could significantly reduce cholesterol levels.
  • Lose 10 – 15 pounds and add some exercise to your daily routine and you could slash your risks of developing heart disease.
  • Being overweight increases your risk of cancer by up to 50% but losing 12 or more pounds can significantly reduce that risk.
  • Arthritis, osteoarthritis and back pain are common complaints among the obese and losing between 10 and 15 pounds can help to reduce or alleviate some of the pain you experience on a daily basis.

Diet and exercise are the keys to changing your destiny, but you also have a number of other nutritional tools at your disposal to help you achieve the weight loss mentioned above.

Vitamin C is one of the most powerful nutrients for supporting health and it could be an invaluable tool in helping you achieve your weight loss goals.

In a review on the benefits of vitamin C as a means for treating obesity, researchers reviewed studies on the metabolic effects of vitamin C. Here are some of the studies and conclusions they reviewed:

  • Vitamin C improved insulin sensitivity.
  • Vitamin C reduced the amount of fat deposited by the body.
  • Vitamin C levels were inversely linked to waist – hip ratio. In other words, the higher the levels of vitamin C, the smaller the individual’s waist measurements.
  • Vitamin C reduced blood glucose and the levels of the enzymes associated with glucose metabolism.
  • Vitamin C supplementation reduced the chemicals responsible for inflammation and therefore responsible for the pain associated with inflammation.

A good vitamin C supplement can support you in your goal to lose a few pounds and improve your overall health.

The bottom line is that a few dietary changes, the addition of healthy supplements that support weight loss, and some exercise can help you reverse your destiny. Can you lose 300 pounds? Probably not. Can you lose 15 pounds and change your life? That’s up to you.

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