Your Weight and Cardiovascular Disease

Obesity and overweight are linked to many risk factors for heart disease. High blood pressure is one of them. This may lead to an enlarged left ventricle also known as left ventricular hypertrophy which increases your risk of heart failure. Abnormal cholesterol levels such as high triglycerides, low HDL and high LDL puts you at risk for heart disease and stroke. The metabolic syndrome which includes a constellation of signs and symptoms including an increase in blood pressure, increase in cholesterol levels, increase in the measurement of your waist circumference and an elevated blood glucose level is a well known risk of cardiac disease.

The good news is that evidence shows us that as little as a 5% reduction in a person's weight can improve these risks for cardiovascular disease significantly. There is also good evidence to suggest that the Mediterranean Diet offers benefits to patients with known cardiovascular disease.