Why weight matters

Carrying extra weight puts you at risk for many different conditions including heart disease, stroke, certain types of cancer, osteoarthritis and type 2 diabetes.

Where you carry this weight also makes a difference. If you store a lot of this around your stomach, fat can build up around vital organs such as the liver and pancreas meaning they don’t work as well.

The deep fat that is stored around your middle is known as ‘visceral’ fat and it increases insulin resistance — which is when our body cannot use insulin properly.

Not being able to make enough insulin, or our body not being able to use it properly leads to the development of type 2 diabetes.

The latest evidence shows that losing a significant amount of weight (over 15kg) quickly and safely is the most likely way of putting type 2 diabetes into remission.