Body Fat Impacts Your Circulation & Ultimately Your Whole Body’s Health...
Body fat, adipose tissue, is part of you. We all have some stores of body fat. Fat tissue is living tissue that needs a steady supply of blood, oxygen, and nutrients. I am going to explain just a couple of ways that excess body fat is hard on the body’s circulation. Vibrant circulation, to all body cells, is required for vibrant, whole body health.
"If you took all the blood vessels out of an average child and laid them out in one continuous line, the line would stretch over 60,000 miles. An adult's line of blood vessels would be closer to 100,000 miles long." (1) There are three kinds of blood vessels: arteries, veins, and capillaries.
When you gain a pound of fat your body makes seven new miles of blood vessels. Your body must then work harder to pump blood through all of these extra miles of new blood vessels. This extra work puts strain on your heart. Think high blood pressure.
Blood being sent to nourish your extra adipose tissue is blood that is not being used to nourish normal body cells. This can create reduced oxygenation and nutrient replenishment in other body cells and tissues. The good news: if you lose a pound your body will break down and re-absorb these now unneeded vessels. The blood flow will be used to nourish normal body cells and your heart will have 7 miles less of vessels to work hard pumping blood through.
Every extra pound of body fat compromises the circulation to your normal cells and tissues. Our bodies have very tiny vessels, micro circulation, to individual body cells. The eye, and other small areas of the body (nerves, inner ear structure, etc.) are also supplied with blood through very tiny vessels. Compromised blood circulation, from your heart having extra miles and miles of vessel to pump blood through, means these areas of micro-circulation can be compromised. Who wants to compromise their eye sight? Who wants to compromise blood flow and nourishment to any body cell? When body cells become malnourished and lacking in oxygen (keep in mind they will also be lacking in waste removal because if the blood does not get through efficiently to the cells, the blood also will not be able to efficiently carry waste products away from cells). Malnourished body cells are prone to degeneration. Degeneration of body cells is one component of health / ill health that eventually creates disease.
An example of compromised circulation's effects on a body organ system:
Human reproductive organs have a rich supply of blood to them. This blood supply keeps the tissues healthy, much the same as any area of the body. The blood supply to the penis and clitoris (a much more complex organ than most people realize), that causes erections and sexual stimulation, is the canary in the coal mine. Many people with chronic weight issues, diabetes, and other obesity related health conditions suffer from lack of blood flow to reproductive organs and the resultant lack of desire or ability to feel full sexual stimulation. Often people will notice reduced sexual urges*, lessened ability to perform, or impeded sexual stimulation as a first sign of whole body compromised circulation. The ability to reproduce or function as a sexual being is not required for life. The body is wired for survival and will send the blood where it needs to go for the most important survival functions.
*Do not confuse this with lessened libido after menopause from the normal aging process, males and females alike.
Here is another aspect to think about and visualize to assist you in your desire to decrease the miles of blood vessels your heart must work to pump blood through:
Fat is squishier than muscle. Bear with me on this one for a minute.
Think of both of these tissues as building blocks. Fat being squishier means it does not hold its shape well; it collapses on itself. This squishy characteristic of fat means it presses (puts pressure) on your blood vessels. This makes it harder for the heart to pump blood through the extra miles of squished vessels in your adipose tissue. Not only are there extra miles of vessels for the heart to pump blood through but the fat itself impedes the blood flow through those vessels. Think of how this impacts overall blood pressure and the return circulation from your lower limbs.
Muscle, as you can see in the picture above, is very compact tissue. 5 pounds of muscle is considerable less mass than 5 pounds of adipose tissue. Muscle is a firm and a very busy tissue. Your individual muscle fibers twitch gently even while you are sleeping. This constant gentle twitching, even if the twitch is more relaxed during sleep, assists the movement of blood through the vessels in that muscle tissue. Increased circulation is one of the many reason that moving the body is a beautiful and magical thing: you are assisting your blood circulation!
I hope this helps you to think about and discover more exciting benefits to reducing body fat composition. Your whole body’s health will benefit through better circulation, better movement, and better function of each and every...
- organ system,
- tissue, and right down to your
- individual body cells.
For more support on reducing the body's adipose tissues, I have many blog posts to support your health & self healing goals. This is just a few of the inspiring words I have written over the years to soothe your body, mind, and spirit into feeling good about giving back to yourself and creating a self healing space for weight loss to happen.
I share with love.
- Divine Weight Loss Tip #1
- Divine Weight Loss Tip #2
- Divine Weight Loss Tip #3
- Divine Weight Loss Tip #4
- Divine Weight Loss Tip #5
- Divine Weight Loss Tip #6
- Divine Weight Loss Tip #7, #8, #9, #10
- The Final Tip: Divine Weight Loss
- 5 Shocking Ways Yoga Causes You To Lose Weight
- Weight Loss is in Your Hands
- Choose to Create Wellness, Weight Loss Will Follow
- Wellness Vs. Weight Loss... The Real Deal
- The Path To Easy Weight Loss
- Chewing for Weight Loss
- Why I Love Yoga and Other Thoughts on Whole Food, Whole Health Healing
- Naturally Simple Ways to Weigh LESS...