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Being overweight is associated with a host of potential health issues. However, a potential problem that doesn’t get enough attention is how a high body weight affects joint health and mobility.
So, read on to learn about the impact of extra pounds on the joints and how weight loss can be incredibly beneficial.
The Burden of Excess Weight on Joints
Though we may not realize as it happens, our joints are under extreme stress daily. Even simple activities like walking, climbing stairs, carrying groceries, and picking something off the floor involve the joints and stress them to a degree.
When someone is overweight, this pressure increases significantly, leading to more wear and tear that often causes loss of mobility and pain, ranging from mild to debilitating.
The most common problem that results from being overweight is osteoarthritis––a condition where joint tissue breaks down (primarily cartilage, the smooth tissue that protects the joints and bones).
Pain or discomfort is the most common symptom, but the affected joints can feel stiff and swell up chronically.
According to experts, every extra pound of body weight adds up to six pounds of additional pressure on the knees. What’s even more worrying is that overweight and obese individuals are up to twenty times more likely to need joint replacement surgery in their lifetime.
Additionally, excessive weight gain is associated with higher levels of inflammatory markers, such as IL-6. This and other cytokines are indicative of chronic inflammation, which is associated with quicker wear and tear of joints.
A simple way to understand the impact of excess weight is to imagine a shiny pickup truck designed to carry a specific load. If the truck is routinely overloaded, its suspension wears out more quickly, resulting in a rougher ride and the vehicle sitting lower than when it was new.
Weight Loss and How it Can Provide Relief For Joint Problems
While excess body weight is associated with a host of joint issues, the good news is that even modest weight loss can reduce the physical load and limit the inflammatory processes contributing to tissue wear.
First, we have the obvious benefits: weighing less reduces the stress on the joints, particularly the weight-bearing ankles, knees, and hips.
As mentioned above, every extra pound of body weight adds additional pressure on the joints in the lower body. So, by losing weight, you can experience significant relief and a reduction in chronic aches, slowing (or even reversing) the progression of joint degeneration.
Additionally, losing weight makes movement easier and less painful, which can encourage you to move more and engage in sports that could further contribute to weight loss.
You might not experience these effects right away, but imagine how much lighter you would feel on your feet if you lost 10, 20, or even 30 lbs of body fat.
We must also consider the overall positive impact of weight loss on health. Though this is more difficult to measure and quantify, we know that getting to a healthier body fat percentage can have a profound positive impact on inflammatory markers.
5 Ways to Protect Against Weight Fluctuations and the Negative Impact on Joint Health
Maintaining a stable and healthy weight is crucial for joint integrity, mobility, and the prevention of osteoarthritis. The problem is that, while straightforward, weight loss is also tricky, so let’s review some ways to get to a healthy body weight and maintain your results.
1. Go Slow
Everyone wants to lose weight quickly and get a lean physique and healthy joints in a few weeks, but it obviously doesn’t work that way.
Going on a restrictive diet can lead to some quick initial results and might even provide some temporary joint relief. The problem is that restrictive diets are unsustainable, and most people fall off the wagon soon after starting.
Hunger increases, cravings get too difficult to manage, and the idea of enduring even one more grueling day of dieting sounds like the worst thing ever. So, people give up, revert to old behaviors, and quickly regain all the weight they’ve managed to lose.
Going slow takes more patience but sets you up for success because the approach is far more sustainable, and you don’t need to make as many lifestyle changes right from the start.
In fact, it’s best to focus on small changes at first:
- Focus on having just one healthy meal every day
- Start tracking your steps and aim for at least 3,000 per day
- Drink some water before each meal. Adequate hydration is also one of the easiest things to do for your joint health
- Eat more slowly and chew each bite thoroughly
2. Do Some Light Exercise
Regular physical activity can support weight loss and joint health in two big ways. First, it burns extra calories, making it easier to create and sustain the necessary energy deficit that leads to weight loss.
The per-session calorie burn might not be huge (it could be as low as 150-200 calories burned for a newbie), but it adds up over time. A single workout won’t make a huge difference, but what if you trained 200 times in the next 365 days?
That could be an extra 55,000-73,000 calories burned, enough to lose over 20 lbs of pure fat.
Second, some research suggests that physical activity can positively impact hunger and satiety signaling. Specifically, it could help you become more attuned to your body’s fullness signals, allowing you to feel fuller on fewer calories.
You can start with some light activity––even a daily walk could make a difference. Over time, you can include structured exercise, such as weight training or cardio. Specifically for joint health, light activity could be the best choice to avoid any further damage to the joints until a healthy level of fitness is achieved to more safely engage in more strenuous exercises.
3. Get Enough Sleep
Adequate sleep is crucial for long-term weight loss because it impacts appetite, impulse control, and metabolism.
First, a lack of sleep can lead to increases in ghrelin (a hunger hormone we discussed in a previous article), leading to more hunger.
Second, sleep deprivation is shown to affect impulse control, making people more likely to fall for instant gratification over actions that bring them closer to long-term goals. Coupled with more hunger, this is a recipe for overeating.
Third, some research suggests that less sleep affects protein and fat metabolism. More specifically, a lack of sleep inhibits fat burning and increases muscle loss during caloric restriction.
According to most guidelines, you should aim for at least seven hours of sleep per night.
4. Dietary Supplements
Many dietary supplements are available in the marketplace. By definition, dietary supplements are meant to replace what may be missing in our diets. However, there are many supplements that claim to provide weight loss benefits with their proprietary natural ingredients. We recently published a review of 10 most sold dietary supplements with claims to support weight loss. You can find this article here.
In addition, there are many dietary supplements available in the marketplace (including collagens, glucosamine, chondrotin etc.) with claims to improve and even reverse joint problems. Even though these claims have not been proven in placebo controlled clinical trials, manufacturers come up with different combinations and proprietary blends that find their popularity among consumers. We plan to review top joint health supplements in a later article.
As always, it is advisable to speak with your physician before you start a new supplement, diet or medication regimen.
5. Medication Options
Recently, a few medications have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for weight loss and/or control of diabetes. These medications include tirzepatide, semaglutide, liraglutide and dulaglutide under the brand names Zepbound, Ozempic Mounjaro, Rybelsus, Wegovy, Saxenda and Trulicity. Generally speaking these are designed to partially ‘fix’ hormonal imbalances that control appetite.
In a recent study, tirzepatide was found to be one of the top performing medications in controlling weight-related biomarkers including glycemic profile lipid parameters (total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides), and blood pressure.
To your health!