Tackling Obesity May Ease The Severity Of Lupus Symptoms

Adults who are 35 pounds (or more) over their ideal weight are classified as obese, according to the CDC. In America, 39.8 percent of the population fit into the obese category, and some of them have lupus. A scientific study published in the Arthritis Care & Research Journal showed that obese lupus patients have more severe symptoms in four key areas, which are disease activity, pain, fatigue and depression. While the study focused on female patents, it’s safe to say that all lupus patients will benefit from keeping their weights within normal ranges. If you have lupus and you’re obese, achieving and then maintaining a healthy body weight will be a worthwhile goal that may be achieved through diet, exercise and lifestyle changes.

Replace red meat with healthy fish

Losing weight is often challenging, but it can be done. To succeed, you need a practical game plan. One smart way to improve your diet while living with lupus is to replace red meat with fish. You should focus on eating more sardines, tuna, salmon and mackerel, as these types of fish contain omega-3 fatty acids, which help to protect against stroke and heart disease, as they also decrease inflammation. Where weight loss is concerned, skipping the red meat (or eating it sparingly) in favor of fish will help you to slim down faster, based on results from a study published in the Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases journal.

Embrace regular and moderate exercise

Coping with lupus can be tough and you may not always feel like working out. Finding the motivation to exercise in a regular and moderate fashion will be beneficial, as exercise is essential when it comes to losing weight and feeling better. Lupus patients who do exercise regularly, at moderate levels of intensity, are able to burn calories, elevate their moods, ease fatigue, stop stiffness of the joints and build muscle strength. Talk to a doctor before embracing regular exercise. The best forms of workouts for lupus patients include walking Yoga, Pilates and weight training.

Add more self-care to your lifestyle

Diet and exercise are key, but other lifestyle changes will also help you to achieve a healthy weight as you live with lupus. Stress relief techniques, such as meditation and self-massage, will help you to control stress. Stress leads to the production of a hormone, cortisol, which is linked with weight gain. If you’re not into meditation and self-massage, consider hobbies that focus your mind on specific tasks, such as drawing or knitting. The mental focus derived from these hobbies helps to lower stress levels, by distracting the mind from problems. Getting enough deep and healing rest each night will also help you to produce less of the cortisol “stress hormone”. Make stress relief and sleep strong priorities while you embark on your weight loss journey.

Some lupus patients gain weight, due to side effects from medications. Others lose weight. Lupus patients who are obese will be doing what’s best for their health by creating game plans for weight loss, which include eating less red meat and more fish, exercising regularly and incorporating stress relief techniques into their lifestyles. Getting more sleep will also work wonders. Achieving a healthy weight will help to ease lupus symptoms.

Written by Jess Walter