Would you like to know your chances of staying healthy in the next decade? Measure around your waist (with a soft tape 10 cm above the thighbone, without pulling in the stomach) – a figure above 90 cm for women and 100 cm for men indicates the presence of reserves of abdominal fat.
In fact, an increase in the amount of visceral fat surrounding the internal organs is associated with the expansion of the abdominal region. The bad news is that this type of fat directly affects hormonal levels – disrupting metabolism and leading to the development of chronic diseases.
Abdominal fat – how to get rid of it?
Abdominal (or visceral) fat is fat stores that accumulate inside the abdominal cavity. Unlike soft to the touch subcutaneous fat, internal fat is a denser substance. You can’t feel it as it is hidden behind a layer of abdominal muscles of the press.
Statistics show that having stores of this fat is associated with a higher risk of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and some types of cancer. Among other things, abdominal fat increases the risk of dementia (colloquially referred to as “senile dementia”) by almost 3 times.
The final point of growth of abdominal fat is the metabolic syndrome (a combination of severe forms of obesity, diabetes and hypertension). In this case, doctors advise you to drastically change your lifestyle as your chances of living a long, fulfilling life are significantly reduced.
Age changes
Most often, abdominal fat is more common in men, whereas in women, fat is usually deposited on the hips and buttocks. However, the situation changes after reaching the age of 50 – statistics show that during menopause, women on average gain from 5 to 7 kg of excess weight.
The reason is hormonal changes that provoke insulin sensitivity, as well as cravings for fast carbohydrates. An increase in the level of the stress hormone cortisol also plays a role, leading to observed sleep problems and a constantly irritated mood.
Effects of Sugar on Fat Gain
Gaining excess weight and the growth of abdominal fat is due not just to an excess of calories (against the background of a sedentary lifestyle) – but to an excess of sugar and fast carbohydrates. On average, a modern person consumes 3 times more sugar than is acceptable by WHO (World Health Organization) recommendations.
But sugar has an interesting feature – its constituent glucose and fructose molecules are able to bind to the proteins and fats of the human body, damaging them. Moreover, the processes accelerate sharply after reaching 35 years.
Glucose, fructose and insulin
Excess sugar and fast carbohydrates in the diet increase blood glucose levels, which leads to excess production of insulin – and further loss of sensitivity to its action. In parallel, insulin increases the retention of sodium (the main component of salt) – which leads to hypertension.
The situation is exacerbated by the fact that sweet pastries, reconstituted fruit juices, and sweet soda contain not sugar, but fructose syrup in their composition. This substance is much more dangerous for metabolism, and it is extremely difficult for the body to resist its effects – especially in uncontrolled doses.
How to get rid of belly fat?
Another bad news is that belly fat affects the level of the hormone leptin , which controls satiety. In the presence of a large amount of internal fat, the body seems to lose the ability to “see” this fat – but it requires replenishment with completely unnecessary calories.
Trying to lose weight by restricting food only exacerbates the hormonal imbalance, minimizing leptin production, and as a result, a person cannot achieve satiety and constantly feels hungry. This is the reason why dieting is so difficult.
Where to begin?
If you want to get rid of belly fat, you will have to give up sugar today – and forget about it for the rest of your life. Think not about how to lose a certain amount of kilograms, but about how to overcome sugar cravings. This will take at least a month.
The next step is to increase your daily activity. However, it is a mistake to assume that sport burns calories and thus helps to lose weight. In reality, the mechanism is much more complicated – sports are needed to restore the response of body tissues to insulin, leptin, cortisol, and other hormones.
Abdominal fat is fat that the body stores inside the abdominal cavity. Unlike normal subcutaneous fat, abdominal fat affects the body’s hormonal levels – and for its set, in turn, the disturbances in insulin production associated with uncontrolled consumption of sweets are responsible.