Many studies have found that losing 10% of your body weight can lower risk for heart attack and stroke.

Obesity is now considered an epidemic, with about 42% of Americans now considered obese.

A healthy weight as normalized for height is defined as a body mass index of 20-25. Someone is considered obese if his/her body mass index is above 30. Obesity poses a major health concern because it is related to medical conditions such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer – occurring at younger than expected ages.

Many factors contribute to obesity—but fortunately, there are an increasing number of safe and effective weight loss tools. While those methods are beyond the scope of this article, the question remains – “How much weight loss is enough to blunt the risk of premature diseases?”

Many studies have found that losing 10% of your body weight can have substantial health benefits. This may mean that a person who weighs 250 pounds--but has an ideal body weight of 180 pounds—can lose 10% of his/her weight (25 pounds) and still be overweight/obese (at 225 pounds) BUT can gain important reductions in blood pressure, blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure can drop by 5 mm Hg. The good HDL cholesterol can be raised by 5 mg/dl, and dangerous triglycerides can fall by 40 mg/dl.

A measurement of blood sugar (Hemoglobin A1C) can fall by an impressive 0.5 percentage point.

Coronary artery disease is caused by blockage in the heart’s blood vessels. A recent study using sophisticated heart testing demonstrated that a controlled diet and lifestyle intervention may slow the progression of this heart blood vessel blockage process and even cause some blockages to shrink!

In that line of thought, Harvard University investigators estimate that this same reduction in body mass index can result in nearly 50% reduction in future heart attack risks.

In addition, the risk of recurrent heart rhythm issues, such as atrial fibrillation, also can fall by 50% with a reduction in body weight of 10%.

Data from a registry of more than 4,000 bariatric surgery patients found a 69% reduction in ischemic-related strokes and a 68% reduction in overall death rates.

For overweight individuals, the value of this 10% reduction in weight cannot be overstated. While this degree of weight loss may not restore a “healthy” body weight, substantial cardiovascular benefits such as lower rates of heart attack and stroke can be recognized.

Any sustained weight loss will take some effort and lifestyle modification—but a weight reduction goal of 10% is definitely a step in the right direction.