The risks of being too skinny

It is believed that people with less body weight are super active and healthy. But being thin doesn’t necessarily equate to good health. You might appear healthy on the outside, but you could have some underlying health conditions just like overweight and obese people on the inside Here’s the list of risk factors associated with being underweight and not having required nutrition:

●     Increased fat levels

Though it may not seem like it from the outside, skinny people have more fat in their bodies. According to various studies visceral fat and subcutaneous fat are relatively way higher in skinny bodies than fat bodies. So, even though your skinny friend binge eats everything, he/she is only adding up the fat in their body. They might not feel any discomfort but it could be the reason for some serious health issues in the future.

●     Malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies, or anemia

Poor diet and lack of nutrition can cause some major health issues in skinny people such as poor health, lack of vitamins, and feeling fatigued and tired all the time. This lack of energy is a major symptom of anemia. It also causes irregular heartbeat, breathing problems, dizziness, and frequent headaches. 

●     Osteoporosis and bone problems

Almost all of us are concerned about having increased body fat, but we need to have a little bit to keep our body healthy. Fat helps to produce estrogen in the body which is essential for both men and women for their bone health. Lack of estrogen in the body causes bones to become brittle and prone to breakage. That increases the risk of osteoporosis, irrespective of the person’s age.

●     Infertility

Being too skinny can increase the risk of infertility in women. Initially, it affects the menstrual cycle and causes irregular menstruation, and later on, it creates difficulty to conceive and sustain the pregnancy. The risk of miscarriage is also comparatively higher in thin women. Likewise, skinny men are 22 times more at risk of persistent sexual issues including erectile dysfunction, painful intercourse, or inability to ejaculate. 

●     Poor immune system:

The immune system helps to keep us healthy without being affected by foreign bodies and abnormal cells. It’s a defense guard that keeps us healthy. Being underweight increases the risk of getting sick frequently and it can also lead to serious conditions such as cancer that begins with a poor immune system and abnormal cell activities.

By making a few changes in your diet and lifestyle, you can gain healthy body weight and avoid the adverse effects of being too skinny or underweight.