Fat Loss Tips and Diet

Knee Pain from Weight Gain | Why it Happens and How to Fix It

Knee pain from gaining weight is a well-established fact in the medical community. But the unfortunate truth is that pain isn’t the only symptom your knees will suffer from.

In fact, one study says that weight gain also led to increasing stiffness, deteriorating function, and of course, knee pain.

So, let’s get a better understanding of why excessive weight gain causes knee pain. And, hopefully, urge you to keep better track of your weight.

Why does weight gain cause knee pain?

1. Your knees can only take so much pressure.

According to a study, the force your knees receive while walking is 2 to 3 times your body weight.

If you weigh 100 kilograms right now, you could potentially exert 300 kilos of pressure to your knees with each step you take!

That might seem like a lot, but your knees are normally designed to take this much force because they have cartilage and muscle to help absorb that pressure. However, with increasing weight, you also supercharge your cartilage’s deterioration, eventually leading to knee pain.

Does that mean walking – or exercise as a whole for that matter – is bad for your knees? Not necessarily, but we’ll get to that later.

2. Obesity increases your risk of knee osteoarthritis

Speaking of cartilage, knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a condition described as the degeneration of your joints’ cartilage. The thinner and more broken down your cartilage gets, the more likely it is that you will experience knee pain, inflammation, and stiffness.

It is, unfortunately, a progressive disease and it will only get worse over time. Even more unfortunate is that obesity is the leading risk factor for developing osteoarthritis.

While there is currently no cure for this condition, there are treatments that help slow down its progression. Again, more on that later.

3. Weight gain encourages biomechanical imbalances

First of all, this does not happen instantaneously. The same can be said for knee OA, too.

A 2020 study from Acta Biomedica states that: people are more likely to develop knock knees when they become obese. This works both ways with another study linking bow-leggedness and a higher BMI to more severe osteoarthritis.

Weight gain is more likely if you’re sedentary – and that itself poses a myriad of musculoskeletal issues.

Overall, these biomechanical imbalances alter the forces exerted on your knees which, in turn, may lead to knee pain.

How do you stop knee pain from weight gain?

Well, the obvious answer is weight loss.

Losing at least 10% of your body weight has tremendous benefits for both knee pain and function.

But, as you already know, weight loss isn’t all that simple. Strategies that work for some people may not always work for you.

For example, there are a few people who can sustain rapid weight loss, but most people are more likely to keep the weight off if they lose it gradually.

The key here is to find what works for you to increase your chances of maintaining a healthy weight. I personally recommend gradual weight loss for safety reasons. But, should you attempt a faster approach, please do so with the guidance of a team of professionals.

Strengthen your muscles.

Remember what I said about being sedentary promoting muscular imbalances that lead to joint pain? Well, resistance training restores your knee joints’ biomechanics and normalizes your muscles’ firing patterns.

Ultimately, this reduces pain and helps curb the progression of osteoarthritis.

The best part is that you don’t have to go to the gym to start training. There’s no shortage of effective knee strengthening exercises that you can do at home, such as air squats, hamstring curls, and calf raises just to name a few.

Eat healthier food.

Eating “healthy food” generally also involves these 3 things:

• Eating more low calorie fruits and vegetables
• Eating less of calorie dense fat (the unhealthy kind)
• Avoiding food that promotes inflammation

So, this goes well with losing weight.

For many people, this might be one of, if not the hardest part about losing weight. So, don’t feel bad if you don’t get it right the first time.

I highly recommend seeing a qualified dietician or nutritionist for this, but here are a few tips:

• Grill or steam your meats. Both methods do not involve as much cooking oil as frying, so you’re essentially already cutting calories and pro-inflammatory fat.
• Cut down on added sugar. Added sugar such as those found in sodas and desserts essentially don’t have any nutritional value despite the heavy calories. If you want a sweet treat, grab a piece of fruit instead.
• Cut down on salt and MSG. Both substances contain sodium which promote inflammation, especially towards those of us with high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
• Drink in moderation. Alcohol is a relaxant that may help reduce certain cases of knee pain but only in moderation as excessive alcohol consumption also promotes inflammation.
• Eat less red meat. Red meat consumption has been associated with higher markers of inflammation, particularly in those with high belly fat (e.g. obese people). (9)
• Incorporate foods rich in omega-3 to your diet. These include cold-water fish such as salmon and mackerel, nuts, beans, and plant oil. Omega-3 is known to fight inflammation which may help with joint pain.

Where to from here?

Now that you have all the information, it’s up to you to decide what to do. Little steps are easier to fit into a busy routine. Once it becomes a habit, make another small change and then another. Your knees will thank you!

Guest Author: Kristopher Ceniza, Bachelor Degree in Physical Therapy from Cebu Doctors University, The Phillipines and website manager for Knee Force.

In recent years, there have been an increasing number of cases of scurvy. Yes, scurvy and yes, here in the USA! So, who does this happen to and more importantly, why?

When I think of scurvy, the first thing that pops into my head are Sailors and Pirates! Sailors and Pirates spent months at sea with a very uninspired diet and very limited access to fresh fruit and vegetables.

Sound familiar? Replace ‘months at sea’ with ‘time poor’ and it sounds like a growing number of households.

But what is scurvy? How do you catch it?

Let’s clear that up: you don’t catch scurvy from anyone or anything else. It’s all to do with what you eat or don’t eat.

What causes scurvy?

Basically, scurvy is a result of a lack of Vitamin C. It has some hideous effects on the human body such as bleeding or swollen gums, loss of hair, wounds that won’t heal, exhaustion, anaemia and even loose teeth.

Americans nicknamed British sailors ‘limeys’ because they had to drink lime or lemon juice to prevent scurvy. Want to know more?

But it worked, and the sailors avoided the ravages of scurvy.

In the twenty-first century with access to fresh fruit and vegetables all year round, how does anyone in America develop scurvy? Is it because of a lack of money? Possibly. More likely it is a dietary choice.

The average American eats five meals a week prepared by a commercial outlet, most probably a fast food restaurant. Known as fast food, these meals will typically be high in calories and low in nutrition.

Time poor, some people will skip breakfast or lunch and grab a coffee and a pastry. More empty calories!

When you spend $25-$50 each week per person on take-away, it eats into the amount left for buying fresh fruit and vegetables. Many families will buy ready-made snacks to pack into lunch boxes. Chopping up fresh fruit is messy and eating it can be messier! Who needs that, right?

We want everything to be compact, easy to store, easy to transport and easy to use. Some food stores are already going the way of pre-packaged everything so that you don’t have to worry.

With all this convenience, we sometimes forget that our bodies need a variety. We get stuck in a rut. The last thing you want after a busy day at work is to argue with a child about what they are having for dinner. It is often easier just to give them what they want rather than what they need. Adults too can fall into the same trap.

Some fast food outlets have incredible deals with fried this or fried that but to buy a salad to go with it might push the cost up too much. A big bucket of fried chicken pieces feeds more than a small bowl of salad. It’s economics!

When you look at what you have eaten this week, did you get your recommended daily intake (RDI) of Vitamin C? Did the rest of your family? Do you know that the amount of Vitamin C required by your body depends on your age and sex?

And if you smoke, then add another 30mg to whatever your RDI is.

Can you have lots of fresh fruit on the weekend to make up for missing out during the busy working week? The short answer: No. Our bodies don’t store Vitamin C, so you need a steady supply every day.

What are the best sources of Vitamin C? Some fruits and vegetables are very high in the amount of Vitamin C they contain. Look at the list below and knowing from the table above what your RDI is, work out how best you can get your Vitamin C as well as the other members of your family. What can you pack for snacks in the lunch box that will satisfy the munchies, appeal to their tastes, ensure the RDI of Vitamin C (and other Vitamins too!) and not break the bank?

Vitamin C is destroyed in cooking, so raw is better or stir-fry or steam.

Check what other foods contain Vitamin C by doing your own research. Find out which food high in Vitamin C also provides many of your other daily nutritional needs. Be proactive and think smart! Clue: check out the kiwi!

A single lemon provides approximately 45mg of Vitamin C if you can manage to eat one whole! If not, try squeezing the juice into a glass of plain water and drinking that. It is a great refreshing drink at any time!

Just remember that too much Vitamin C can also cause problems such as diarrhoea, nausea and stomach cramps. So, as the saying goes, everything in moderation.

What about the organic versus non-organic sources? There is no evidence to suggest that organic foods are a better source. But by buying good quality non-organic fruit and vegetables it may help the budget go further. You just may be able to enjoy some of those exotic fruits. Have you ever tried a gold kiwi? They are much sweeter than the green ones and still high in Vitamin C!

So, don’t be ‘time poor’ and make sure that you get your RDI of all the vitamins and minerals that your body needs. If your diet consists of food from all the colours of the rainbow and good sources of protein, then it is highly likely that you will maintain good health. Just eat sensibly to maintain a good weight.

Protein is important. Our bodies need it every day as it can’t be stored. The Protein our bodies consume is unusable and so it modifies it: taking the minuscule building blocks apart and putting them back together in a myriad of ways. You probably heard of Amino Acids in high school science being the building blocks of the body? Well, they are!

So, what does protein do in the human body? If I consume too much and it’s stored as fat, shouldn’t I just cut right back on it? No! You must eat the recommended amount for you to keep your body healthy and functioning. People who don’t eat enough Protein on a regular basis are at risk of malnutrition and developing Kwashiorkor. Understandably, this impedes growth and body repair, weakens muscles and increases the risk of succumbing to diseases. A healthy body can overcome simple diseases but a body suffering from Kwashiorkor is often unable to do so.

According to MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Proteins are the building blocks of life. Every cell in the human body contains protein. The basic structure of protein is a chain of amino acids. You need protein in your diet to help your body repair cells and make new ones.

Protein helps you to feel full. Often, we’ll reach for something quick and easy mid-morning like fruit or a cookie when those hunger pangs start. Drink a glass of water first and then have some protein, like a boiled egg. It doesn’t sound or look as appetizing as a cream-filled donut, but it will satisfy the hunger and not add inches to your waist! Besides, half an hour after consuming the donut or the cookie, you will probably be hungry again! So if you are serious about losing that fat, choose a boiled egg this time!

Protein is used by the body to repair and build new tissue. It builds bone, blood, muscles, skin and cartilage. Hair and nails are made of protein. So, eating protein helps the body to repair itself, grow and regenerate. Remember that your heart is a muscle!

Protein is also used by the body to create important enzymes and hormones to keep your body functioning. So, eating protein is absolutely essential for basic body functions. What do I mean by basic body functions? Think: oxygen transportation to the cells, regulation of the metabolism, helping the immune system, clotting blood when we cut ourselves, digestion and the list goes on.

How do you know if the food on your plate contains enough good quality Protein?

Aren’t all Protein equal? Short answer is No!

Animal sources of Protein are the most effective because they contain all the vital pieces the human body needs. Vegetable sources are less effective because they tend to be missing one or another of the amino acids.

Vegans and Vegetarians need to be conscious of this and ensure that their Protein foods are varied. By doing this, a Vegan or Vegetarian Diet should include all the essential amino acids.

There are arguments for and against eating meat but that won’t be debated here. You need to be comfortable with your choice and eat sufficient Protein so that you can live a healthy long life.

By now you should have realised how important protein is in maintaining your health! For more information check out the Protein Counter (Amazon)