When obesity is a growing problem if I say a healthy weight gain is also necessary, does it sound like an oxymoron? Do you know unrealistic weight loss can also turn into a serious health issue? Nowadays, we constantly see news reports and advertisements on weight loss that suggests a trendy diet, magic pills, and flashy products that promise to help lose weight. When people get tired of the battle against the bulge, being too thin like a model or your favorite film star may seem alluring. But the reality is being underweight is also alarming as you are defecating necessary nutrients for your body.
When you are underweight and consuming fewer vitamins and minerals through foods, that causes the systems within your body to perform below optimal levels. Due to the lack of calcium and vitamin D, it enhances the risk of osteoporosis, degeneration of bone. Also, due to the lack of calories and nutrients, your immune system may fail to perform properly. Furthermore, the lack of calories and healthy nutrients may cause growth and developmental issues among youth and children.
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How can you know If you are underweight?
Whether we have an ideal weight, overweight, or underweight that we calculate using BMI or Body Mass Index. You can use any online tool to check your BMI status. If you have a BMI lower than 18.5 then you may be at risk for underweight-related health issues. However, we should remember that BMI is not always a perfect health indicator. Because if you have BMI over 30 but have more muscle mass but appear lean, you may not have potential health issues related to obesity. Similarly, the BMI calculator used for children and teens is not the same as the adults.
Not only BMI, but other signs may indicate that someone needs weight gain. For example, if someone falls sick often or has a constant decreased level of energy, that may indicate a lack of calories and nutrients. However, there may be other underlying causes for it. More importantly, pregnant women need moderate weight gain for a healthy baby.
What can be the cause of being underweight?
Being underweight can be the result of various reasons and not due only crash diet or over-exercise. It may result in any of the below reasons:
- Genetics. Due to your genetics, your metabolism may be higher than normal. For this reason, you may be thin all along with your life. This may also create a small appetite.
- Eating disorders: This may happen due to many reasons and one of these is anorexia nervosa, which is a serious mental disorder. People with this disorder always think they will become fat if they eat more and they are obsessed with low food intake.
- Illness. Lower BMI can be a result of certain disease like thyroid problems, digestive issues, diabetes, or even cancer. This hampers your body’s natural ability to intake and storing of food amount. However, if you notice sudden weight loss without any effort, do not ignore it and consult with your doctor.
- High Physical activity: Standing on your feet for a long time helps to burn more calories than a sedentary state. Additionally, if you are an athlete, due to frequent workouts your body weight may reduce than the expected rate. However, an active lifestyle promotes good and energetic body and mind.
- Thyroid issue: Overactive thyroid or hyperthyroidism can boost metabolism which results in unhealthy weight loss
- Medicines. Certain prescription drugs can cause weight loss. It may cause nausea due to which you may not able to take food properly resulting in weight loss. Some treatments, like chemotherapy, reduces appetite and worsen weight loss due to illness.
- Psychological factors. Our mental well-beingis a serious factor that can affect every part of our lives. Mental states like depression or stress can create eating disorders. As it may increase your food cravings but sometimes also reduces your urge for food. Hence, if you are suffering mental stress which is beyond your control, consult with your doctor. Counselling may help in this case.
- Celiac disease. This is caused due to gluten intolerance. If somebody has a celiac disease that creates an immune response in the small intestine. As a result, it creates severe bloating, gas, and sometimes diarrhea. This is a genetic disease and if untreated for long can turn fatal.
- Uncontrolled diabetes. This happens mainly with Type 1 diabetes. If it is not controlled through medicine and lifestyle change, it can lead to severe weight loss.
- Infections: Certain infections like parasites, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis can cause someone to become severely underweight.
- Cancer: Cancer patients usually lose severe weight. This is because cancerous tumors burn large amounts of calories, along with many side effects which cause someone to lose a lot of weight.
Side effects of being underweight
If you’re underweight, several health issues can occur. Here are some of them:
- Delayed growth and development. This is related to children and teens. As their bodies need sufficient nutrients to grow and stay healthy, maintaining at least optimum body weight is essential for this age group.
- Weakened immune system. Our body needs sufficient energy to fight back against any disease. So, if you are underweight that means you are not getting enough nutrients, so your body cannot store energy. This not only makes it difficult to fight illness but also, creates difficulties for your immune system to recover after being sick.
- Fragile bones. If you don’t eat properly, it creates a deficiency in vitamin D and calcium. So, along with low body weight, it can lead to weak bones and degeneration of bones commonly known as osteoporosis.
- Anemia. Low body weight often is a sign of malnutrition. Lack of iron, vitamins, folate, and B12 can lead to anemia. As the side effects, you may suffer dizziness, fatigue, and headaches.
- Hair and skin issue. Low body weight can turn hair to thin and increases hair fall. Due to a lack of vitamins and minerals, it also can cause dry skin and health problems with teeth and gums.
- Fertility issues. In women, low body weight can lead to infertility and menstrual problems.
How to obtain weight gain?
You may need a weight gain program if you are underweight. However, that must be healthy weight gain and not go crazy with junk food. Hence, you need a balanced approach, exactly like in a weight loss program.
For a healthy weight gain, the following tips may be useful:
- Choose healthy calories. Just like a crash diethampers your body’s normalfunctionalities, similarly, a drastic change in your diet can affect you harmfully. You should gradually increase calories by adding nuts like almonds, or seeds like sunflower seeds, cheese, and other healthy side dishes like whole-grain or wheat toast.
- Eat plenty of protein.Protein is the single most important nutrient for a healthy weight gain. In our body musclesare made of protein and remaining those extra calories may end up as body fat. So, when you are overfeeding, a high-protein diet causes the extra calories to be turned into muscle. However, as protein is also highly filling, it may reduce your hunger and appetite significantly. Thus, it makes it harder to get in enough calories.
Proteins can be consumed both ways by animals or plants. High-protein foods include meats, eggs, fish, dairy products, nuts, legumes, and others. If you are a bodybuilder or struggling to get enough protein from your diet, you can take protein supplements like whey protein.
- Snack away. Enjoy snacks that have plenty of protein and healthy carbohydrates like protein bars, trail mix, health drinks, and crackers with peanut butter or hummus. Also, while taking snacks you must be careful about intaking “good fats,” which are vital for a healthy heart. Examples include avocado and nuts.
- Eat mini-meals. If you struggle with a poor appetite, which may arise due to different issues, then eating large amounts of food at a time may not seem appealing. Hence, consider smaller meals throughout the day. It will help you to increase your calorie intake.
Here are some tips for to weight gain process:
- Skip water before meals. Taking water before a meal can fill your stomach and reduce your urge to take enough meals which means less calorie intake.
- Eat more often. Squeeze in an additional snack or meal whenever you can.
- Use larger plates to eat more if you are trying to get in more calories.
- Drinking whole milk is a simple way to get in more calories and high-quality protein.
- Are you a coffee lover? Then add cream to it. This is a simple way to enhance the taste and add in more calories.
- Sleep adequately. Do you know proper sleep is very important for muscle growth?
- Eating vegetables is always good, but if you are among those who need extra calories and protein then from your mix of foods on your plate choose the protein-rich foods first and vegetables last.
- If you are struggling to gain weight after trying all the healthy ways, then consult your doctor and try some prescribed weight gainer shakes. These are full of protein, calories, and carbs.
- If you have a weak muscle, consult with the doctor or some physical trainer. Practice weight lifting and if needed take creatine supplement like creatine monohydrate. This can add a few pounds in muscle weight.
- Don’t smoke. Study shows smokers tend to gain less weight than non-smokers. Quitting smoking often leads to weight gain.
Here are some energy-dense foods that are perfect for your weight gain goal:
- Nuts: Almonds, peanuts, walnuts, cashew nuts, etc.
- Meat: Chicken, lamb, beef, pork, etc.
- High-fat dairy: Whole milk, cheese, full-fat yogurt, cream.
- Dried fruit: Raisins, prunes, dates, and others.
- Fats and oils: Extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil.
- Grains: Whole grains like brown rice and oats.
- Vegetables: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams.
Final verdict
We have discussed some ways to weight gain. However, it is always advisable that before starting any weight gain program, assess the root cause of your being underweight. It may be due to an underlying health problem. And in that case, only correcting diet may not help you. Hence, talk to your doctor. Your doctor will decide which track is best for you.