Fat can harm your sex life

UNFORTUNATELY, MANY Jamaicans still associate obesity with good health and sex appeal.

Although this belief may have deep cultural origins, it is false and dangerous. Terms like 'fluffy', 'chubby', and 'plump' are often used to avoid more uncomfortable labels like overweight and obese.

But it is very well established that obesity puts the individual at increased risk of a long list of diseases. Medical experts have listed over 130 disorders connected to excess body fat and now consider obesity to have replaced cigarette smoking as the commonest preventable cause of death worldwide.

Less publicity, however, has been given to the fact that excess fat can also have a very negative impact on your sex life. Researchers at Duke University's Diet and Fitness Center in the United Staes reported that in many areas of their sex lives, obese individuals report 25 times as many problems as people of normal weight. Obese men and women complained more often of a lack of sexual desire and enjoyment along with poor performance when making love. In fact, many fat people reported avoiding sex completely.

More health disorders

The obese are at increased risk of many diseases, and in general, the poorer your health, the worse your sex life. This is especially true for illnesses involving the heart and circulation as good blood flow is a major necessity for good sex. The popular Viagra group of drugs, now available for both men and women, improve sexual responses by chemically increasing blood flow.

Even when you have not been formally diagnosed with heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, or abnormal blood lipids, if you are obese, it is highly probable that your circulatory system is already compromised. In addition to poor blood flow, diabetics also suffer from damage to nerve endings, with a decreased responsiveness to sexual stimulation. Sadly, increasing obesity levels have fuelled the devastating diabetes epidemic.

If that were not enough, many of the drugs used to treat diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure further impair sexual function.

Decreased fitness

The sexual act involves increased physical activity. Low energy levels, shortness of breath, muscle cramps, dizziness, and fatigue during and after intercourse are all signs of the lack of fitness that are characteristic of many obese individuals. Because fat cells promote inflammation in the body, generalised aches and pains, back ache, stiffness, and inflammation are more pronounced in the obese. Gross obesity will sometimes create major problems for partners to find a comfortable position for sexual activity. For some, coitus becomes physically impossible.

Hormonal imbalance

Our libido or sexual interest is greatly influenced by our sex hormones - testosterone, oestrogen, and progesterone, to name the commonest ones. Obesity promotes hormonal imbalance in both men and women. The fat cells around the waist are not just accumulations of fat, they produce hormones, particularly the primary female hormone oestrogen. This frequently leads to a situation where an obese man may have very high levels of female hormones and low levels of the male hormone testosterone. This is partly because the fat cells in the belly are rich in an enzyme called aromatase that converts testosterone to oestrogen.

To make things worse, many chemicals in the food we eat, the air we breathe, and common skin- and hair-care products behave like oestrogen. These chemicals are mainly fat soluble and accumulate in the fatty tissues in the body. All this leads to a situation where fat men are hormonally more like females, resulting in a decreased sex drive and weak erections.

Fat women may have other kinds of disturbing hormonal problems leading to menstrual disorders, infertility, ovarian cysts, excess facial and body hair, fibroids, acne, and painful sex.

In women, obesity causes abnormalities in their eggs that make them harder for the sperm to fertilise. Researchers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital examined eggs that failed to fertilise during in vitro fertilisation and found that eggs from obese women had more chromosomal abnormalities. Obesity also causes excess insulin production and polycystic ovarian syndrome (a condition where the periods are irregular and ovaries produce immature eggs instead of healthy mature ones). Obese women are also likely to suffer from failed pregnancies than those with normal weight.

In men, obesity also promotes infertility by lowering sperm count and sperm quality. Research has found that obese men have lower quality of sperm and the more saturated fats they consume, the lower their total sperm count and sperm concentration.

Buried penis syndrome

In obese men, folds of abdominal fat and excess skin make their penis look small or even 'buried'. Known as the buried penis syndrome, it can seriously disrupt sexual function. This is different to another condition known as micropenis, a congenital disorder where the erect penis measures less than three inches. This affects less than one per cent of males but is becoming more common.

Low self-esteem/poor self-image

Research shows that obese individuals are more likely to suffer from low self-esteem and poor self-worth. This kind of emotional disability does not foster good sex.

Although many men find big women attractive and consider curves and love handles appealing, it is more common for partners of obese people to no longer find them sexually attractive because of their weight gain. They usually deny or suppress these feelings to prevent hurt and avoid confrontation.

In reality, however, this denial blocks communication and only harms the relationship more. As clinical obesity is a life-threatening problem, partners of obese individuals have a responsibility to help address the issue if for no other reason than that it may help them live longer, healthier lives.

Finally, let me provide some consolation to our ladies. The location of your excess fat is important. The fat around the hips and buttocks is not considered hazardous to your health. It is abdominal obesity that creates the most problems. The truth is that it is "fat around our waist that will shorten your life in a haste". Research shows that a waist measurement of over 39 inches in men and more than 34 inches in women will increase your risk of these health problems by a whopping 500 per cent.

The bottom line is that there are many, many compelling reasons why we should all make the commitment to losing those excess pounds this New Year. I suggest a simple, safe, doctor-recommended, nutritional approach called cellular nutrition. This programme is highly effective and comes with a personal wellness and weight-loss coach to guide you. It is readily available both here in Jamaica and around the world, so you really have no excuse.

You may email Dr Tony Vendryes at tonyvendryes@gmail.com or listen to 'An Ounce of Prevention' on POWER 106FM on Fridays at 8 p.m. His new book 'An Ounce of Prevention, Especially for Women' is available locally and on the Internet.