20 Health Risks of Being Underweight (No.3 Terrible)

Being underweight is completely the opposite thing of being obese. Being underweight is the condition that commonly described whenever the people have the body weight less than their normal body weight. So, what can cause the underweight? The main cause of people with the underweight problem is the lack of calories to fuel up their body. Aside from the main cause, here are various causes that could make people become underweight:

Genetics. If you have the family members, for example your father or your mother who have the thin body weight, you will be more likely to have the similar result.
Illness. Having a serious illness could also lead you to become underweight because the loss of appetite that will occur to you. Aside from that, the body’s ability to use and store foods would be disrupted too whenever you have the illness, which then will lead to the sudden weight loss.
Medications. Certain types of medication could also lead you to the sudden weight loss. The medication such as chemotherapy would cause the loss of appetite and worsen the weight loss from the illness.
Psychological Issues. The condition related to your psychology would also lead you to the sudden weight loss which will lead you to being underweight. Having the depression and stress could disrupt the healthy eating habits, which will lead you to sudden weight loss.

Now, after you know all of the possible causes of being underweight, you might want to know the various health risks related to this condition. Here are the various health risks related to being underweight.

Lowered the Immune System

Health Risks of Being Underweight will affects your immune system. If you’re too thin, there is no doubt that your condition would affect the immune system. Your immune system would be weaker than people with normal body weight. So, immune system is the protector of your body, which will protect your body from the harmful foreign contaminants.

The immune system needs a fuel to fight against foreign contaminants that try to invade your body. Since people with the underweight problem are commonly related with the lack of nutritions, there is no doubt that the immune system couldn’t get adequate amount of fuel. This condition will put you at higher risk of developing many diseases, such as cold and flu symptoms and serious medical conditions, such as cancer.

Heart Disease

You might be surprised that the underweight people will potentially have a risk of developing the heart disease, since this serious medical condition is commonly occurring in people with obesity or excessive body weight. So, according to a study, people who are naturally very thin are usually caused by their genetics, which is commonly called as ‘lean genes’. The problem is, this ‘lean genes’ might work by placing the fat very deep within the body, such as placing the fat in the liver and the heart. As you already know, when the fats are accumulated in the heart, the possibility of people having the heart disease would be higher too.

Diabetes

Aside from heart disease, you might be also surprised that actually being underweight could lead a person to the diabetes. Most people think that the possibility to develop the diabetes would be more likely to occur in a person with excessive body weight or obesity, but that statement is wrong, because thin people could also have the diabetes.

So, the question is why the thin people could have the diabetes? Thin people commonly have a thought that because they’re not fat, they can eat any food without having any concern related to their health. Thin people will also be more likely to skip the sport activities because they think that they don’t need it. As the result from those conditions, their body weight might wouldn’t increase, but their blood sugar level definitely will increase, which will lead them to various complication diseases, including diabetes.

Anemia

There is no doubt that the underweight people would be more likely to develop anemia disease. So, anemia is the condition that commonly described whenever the red blood cell production in the body is too low. Since the underweight people are commonly eating lesser food than normal people, there is no doubt that their body wouldn’t get an adequate amount of nutrients that would be very essential to produce the red blood cells, such as iron, folic acids, and Vitamin B12.

If your body doesn’t produce enough red blood cells, then most parts of your body would be easier to tired and in over periods of time, anemia would lead you to various life-threatening diseases, such as kidney and heart failure, for example. The symptoms of the anemia including the shortness of breath, dizziness, extreme fatigue, and severe headache.

Pregnancy Problem

Thin people are also commonly associated with higher risk of being infertile. Especially for women, being underweight could lead them to infertility. No matter whether you’re still young or you’re already getting old, whenever you have a problem with your body weight, your menstruation cycle would become irregular, which will become an issue when they want to conceive.

So, what is the connection between pregnancy and underweight? So, according to a study, being underweight would lead you to menstrual irregularities, which then will affect the lining of the uterine that supports the fetus. In addition to that, according to a study, underweight women who get pregnant were 72 percent more likely to have the miscarriage during the first trimester compared to women who have the normal body weight.

Sexual Problems in Men

Aside from the problem with the menstrual cycle among the women, men would also feel the effect of being underweight related to their sexual life. Underweight men would be at higher risk of developing the erectile dysfunctions. So, what is the connection between being underweight and erectile dysfunction?

Underweight men commonly don’t have enough nutrients from the food, because they will eat food lesser than the proper amount. This condition will cause the body won’t get an adequate amount of nutrients to supply the oxygen-rich blood to the parts of the body, including penis. Since the process of erection need the supply of the blood, there is no doubt that thin men would be more likely to have the erectile dysfunction.

Osteoporosis

There is no doubt that underweight people would be more likely to develop osteoporosis. So, osteoporosis is the condition that commonly described whenever the bone lose its density, which will make the bone become fragile. So, the underweight people could become prone to osteoporosis because they have too little fats in their body. For your information, the body fat is totally needed to produce the estrogen, not just in the women, but also among the men. Estrogen is an essential hormone that would be very beneficial to promote the healthy bones. Since the thin people commonly don’t have enough body fats, the possibility of them having the osteoporosis would be higher too, which will make them become injury-prone.

Heart Failure

Other health risks that commonly associated with being underweight is the heart failure. Heart failure is the condition whenever the heart is unable to supply the adequate amount of blood to the other parts of your body. Without sufficient amounts of the blood, the function of other parts of the body would be disrupted. Being underweight would lead you to this chronic disease because the thin people are commonly suffering from malnutrition. Because their body couldn’t get the adequate amount of nutrients that would be beneficial to produce the red blood cells, that would make the blood supply to the heart would be significantly decreased and can cause the heart failure.

Arrhythmia

Being underweight could also lead you to a condition called arrhythmia. Arrhythmia is the condition whenever your heart beats irregularly. This condition could occur because the electrical impulses don’t function properly, which will cause your heart to beat either too fast, or even too slow. This condition is harmless usually, but when this condition interferes with the blood flow, that would be very dangerous for your lung, brain, and many parts of the body.

So, since the regular heart rhythm depends too much on the proper intake of potassium, sodium, and calcium inside and outside of the heart muscle cells, there is no doubt that thin people would be more likely to suffer from this condition, because they commonly have the chronic malnutrition.

Sudden Weakness

There is no doubt that people that being underweight would be more likely to suffer from the sudden weakness. So, sudden weakness is the condition whenever you’re feeling very tired although you don’t have the intense physical activity at all. As the result, certain parts of the body couldn’t function properly. Since the energy in your body could be added from nutrients from the food that you just ate, there is no surprise at all that thin people are more prone to suffer from this condition. The low amount of red blood cells in the body would also lead you to this condition. The sudden weakness would also affect your productivity throughout the day and it could be depressing.

Changes in the Core Body Temperature

Do you ever feel the cold sensation in your body eventhough the room temperature is warm? Well, this condition could never happen if you have the healthy and normal body weight. But, if you’re having the body weight that less than normal, you will be at higher risk to feel that condition. This is because being underweight would disrupt the ability of your body to regulate the normal body temperature.

If you have the healthy and normal body weight, your body will have the proper amount of fat that will keep the warmth of the body. Since being underweight means that there is too little fat in the body, that would be no surprise that you will feel the chill sensation eventhough the air temperature around you is warm.

Muscle Weakness

Another health risk that would be more likely to occur whenever you have the body weight that less than normal is the muscle weakness. This muscle weakness would disrupt the ability of your body to regulate the body temperature, which will lead you the health risk that already mentioned above. Aside from that, the muscle weakness could happen in thin people because your muscles need the proper intake of protein to develop and sustain themselves. Since underweight people commonly don’t have the adequate amount of nutrients, especially protein from the foods, there is no doubt that this muscles weakness could occur. The muscle weakness would lead you to the sudden body weakness and excessive fatigue although you don’t have the intense physical activity.

Hair Loss

Do you know that being underweight could also have the bad effects on your hair? So, being underweight can cause the excessive hair loss. Although that is impossible to count the amount of the hair loss, but you can notice it everytime you’re washing your hair. The excessive hair loss in people with the body weight that less than normal could occur due to the lack of nutrients that they have. Your hair needs a lot of nutrients from the foods such as protein, iron, and many more in order to keep the health and sustain their own strength. because you don’t have enough nutritions, there is no doubt the your hair will become thin and fall out easily.

Arthritis

There is no doubt that the possibility of underweight people having the arthritis disease would be increased. Arthritis is the inflammation in the joints, which is commonly formed from the breakdown of the cartilage tissue. The mechanism about why underweight could lead you to arthritis still unclear, but this disease could be developed since underweight people could have some problems related to their immune system, which will lead them to become prone to have the infections in their joints.

In addition to that, many studies have already shown that the underweight people were more prone to develop this disease. According to many studies, underweight people are more prone to the effects of the inflammation elsewhere in the body that triggered by the severe arthritis, which then will also have the deadly effects on their heart.

Pneumonia

There is a possibility that people with underweight people will be more likely to have the pneumonia disease. So, pneumonia is the infections in one or both of your lungs that caused by bacteria, fungi, and viruses. This condition then will cause the inflammation in your lungs, which then will lead you to the difficulty of breathing. Since people with the body weight that less than normal would have weaker immune system, there is no surprise that they become more prone with various kinds of infections and inflammation, including the infections from the bacteria, fungi and viruses. In addition to that, according to the series of studies over the past 20 years, old and thin women are far more susceptible of the disease related to their lungs, such as bronchitis, asthma, and penumonia.

Dementia

There is an evidence that being underweight would speed up the progression of dementia as we are getting older. So, dementia is the condition that commonly described as the decline in the cognitive function. As the result of course that this condition will affect the ability of you to think and judge about everything. Many studies have shown that the heavier the body weight in a person, the more his/her risk of dementia declines.

So, what is the connection between being underweight and the development of dementia? Many researchers say that it could be from the combinations of many factors, such as diet, genetic factors, exercise, and weight change. More specifically, the deficiency of Vitamin E and Vitamin D could potentially lead you to this condition, which is the reason why being underweight would lead you to dementia. As you already know, being underweight is commonly related to the lack of the nutrients, including various kinds of vitamin in the body.

Amenorrhea

Since being underweight could lead you the sexual problems, there is no doubt that being underweight could also lead every woman to the condition called amenorrhea. Amenorrhea is the absence of menstruation. This is because being underweight could disrupt the menstrual cycle among women.

So, being underweight means that there is not so much fat in the body. For the information, fat is very essential to support the produce the estrogen hormone among women. Estrogen would be very important to promote the normal menstrual cycle and has the responsibility to support the reproductive development in women. Being underweight means that your body doesn’t have enough fat and thus, the production of estrogen hormone would be disrupted, which then will cause the absence of menstruation.

Depression

There is no doubt that being underweight is closely related to the depression. Depression is the feeling of extreme sadness, which will be very dangerous because it will lead you suicide risk. In the matter of fact, according to the American Journal of Epidemiology, skinny people are 12 percent more likely to commit suicide than people with the normal body weight. So, what is the connection between depression and being underweight? So, having the body weight that less than normal would reduce the production the feel-good brain chemical called serotonin.

Many researchers also say that the succession of the suicide attempt in thin people are higher than people with obesity problem, because thin people will have the suicide attempt that far-far more dangerous than people with obesity, such as jumping from the top of the building or jumping off the bridge, something that the obesity couldn’t achieve.

Weak Body

There is no doubt that being underweight also means that people will have the weak body. Because the body become weak, the possibility to survive from many accidents, such as a car crash, for example, would be significantly reduced. In the matter of fact, according to The American Journal of Public Health by Wisconsin Medical College, skinny people are more likely to die in the car accidents than people with the normal body weight. In addition to that, skinny males are also be more likely to die from collision, because skinny people have the fragile bone and weak body.

Death

This is the most severe health risks that could happen to the people with the problem related to their body weight, whether it is obesity or underweight. Specifically, being underweight means that your body couldn’t have the proper the nutritions that really essential to make all parts of the body function properly. If your body doesn’t have enough nutritions, there is no doubt that you will suffer from various health complications in your brain, bone, lung, kidney, liver, and heart. As the result, the chance of underweight people to develop the life-threatening disease such as heart disease would be higher than usual, which will cause the death in the future without proper medication.

Natural Way To Gain Some Weight

So, after you already know all of the health risks of being underweight, there is no doubt that everyone of you that have the body weight less than normal want to gain some weight, right? So, everything is possible if you have the determination, especially if you want to gain some weight in natural ways. If you still confuse or not sure how are the best ways to gain some weight in natural and healthy ways, then here are some tips that you could apply.

Add Extra Calorie. This is the most obvious thing that you need to do if you want to gain some weight. So, without changing your diet, just try to add some healthy side dishes while you eat, such as cheese, fruits, or whole-grain wheat toast, so that you will have the extra calorie intake that would be beneficial for your body.
Eat More Foods That Have High Nutrients. This is would also be very beneficial for you to gain some weight. Try to consume foods that have the high amount of nutritions like fruit, red meat, fish and vegetables. Just because you’re thin, that doesn’t mean that you’re allowed to eat unhealthy foods such as junk food that have a lot of empty calorie.
Eat Smaller Portion, but Frequently. If you want to gain some weight, you need to eat at smaller portion, but more frequent than usual. You need to have a meal three times per day, and you could add some healthy snacks in between your meal schedule. That would gradually increase your body weight in a natural and healthy ways.
Exercise, Exercise, and Exercise. Just because you’re thin, that doesn’t mean that you are allowed to have a lazy day week in and week out. You need to have the regular physical activity during the day to increase the strength of your bone and your overall body, because having the regular exercise would significantly increase your muscle mass and thus, you will gain some weight in a natural and healthy way.