If you don’t feel like doing anything to protect your health, at least think about taking an honest measurement of your waist. Stand up, exhale (no sucking in!) and, using a tape measure, measure your circumference an inch to two inches above your hip bones.
The result has far greater implications than any concerns you may have about the appearance and fit of your clothes. In general, if your waist measures over 89 cm for women and 1 m for men, chances are you are storing a dangerous amount of belly fat.
Subcutaneous adiposity, the one that takes the form of the famous “love handles” or hides under the skin of the thighs, buttocks or upper arms, can be an aesthetic problem, but it is harmless.
But the deeper belly – visceral, which accumulates around the abdominal organs – is metabolically active and is intrinsically linked to a range of risks for serious problems, including heart disease, cancer and dementia.
A person does not need to be overweight or obese to take this risk if they have excess fat in their abdomen; Those of normal weight can also accumulate dangerous amounts of fatty tissue under the abdominal wall.
Plus, this isn’t the kind of fat you can get rid of just by toning your muscles, with a workout. Weight loss with a healthy diet and exercises like walking and weight training are the only surefire ways to get rid of it.
Until middle age, men generally have a higher percentage of visceral fat than women, but the pattern often reverses when women go through menopause.
Few seem to escape the increase in the waist during this period because the body fat is redistributed, and the visceral ends up being deposited in the belly.
And visceral fat cells are very important for our well-being. Unlike subcutaneous fat, they basically form an endocrine organ that secretes hormones and various other chemicals linked to diseases that often afflict the elderly.
In a 16-year survey of nurses, researchers found that one of these substances, called retinol transporter protein 4 (RBP4), increases the risk of coronary heart disease.
This danger likely results from the harmful effects of this protein on insulin resistance, the precursor to type 2 diabetes, and the development of metabolic syndrome, a complex of risk factors for the heart.
The One Million Women Study, conducted in the UK, demonstrated a direct link between heart disease and increased waist circumference over a 20-year period. Even when other coronary risk factors were taken into account, the odds of developing heart disease were twice as high among women with the widest waistlines: every 2.5 cm more increased the risk by 10%.
The danger of cancer also increases with the accumulation of fat around the waist: the chances of developing colorectal cancer almost doubled among postmenopausal women who accumulated visceral adiposity, according to a Korean survey. Breast cancer has also increased.
In a study of more than 3,000 pre- and post-menopausal women in Mumbai, India, those with about the same waist and hips were three to four times more likely to be diagnosed with cancer. breast than normal-weight women.
A Dutch study published in 2017 linked both total body and abdominal fat to an increased risk of breast cancer. When the women in the study lost weight — about 10 pounds on average — changes in biomarkers like estrogen, leptin and inflammatory proteins indicated a reduction in that risk.
Considering that two-thirds of American women are overweight or obese, losing weight may well be the best weapon to reduce the high incidence of breast cancer in the US.
Perhaps most important in terms of cost to individuals, families and the healthcare system is the link between abdominal obesity and the risk of developing dementia decades later.
A study of 6,583 members of the Kaiser Permanente organization in Northern California, followed for an average of 36 years, found that those with the greatest abdominal obesity in middle age were nearly three times more likely to develop dementia three decades later than those with less waist fat.
Having a larger abdomen increased the risk of dementia in women even though they had always been of normal weight and had no other dementia-related health risks, such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
Other medical problems linked to abdominal fat include insulin resistance and the risk of type 2 diabetes, impaired lung function and migraine. Even the risk of asthma increases with being overweight and especially with abdominal obesity, according to a study of 88,000 professors in California.
Overall, according to findings from a study of more than 350,000 Europeans of both sexes published in the New England Journal of Medicine, having a wider waist can nearly double the risk of premature death, even if a person’s weight is normal.
All this information raises a question: what is the best way to get rid of abdominal fat and, more importantly, how to avoid its accumulation in the waist?
It is very likely that you have already seen on the internet miraculous ads to end it. Before throwing money away, know that there is no scientifically known pill or potion to dissolve it. It takes effort to get results, which means avoiding or drastically limiting the consumption of certain substances, controlling your overall caloric intake, and doing exercise that burns calories.
Perhaps the worst offender is sugar, in all forms, especially fructose, which makes up half of sucrose and 55% of corn syrup.
One of the best ways to decrease your intake is to stop drinking soda and other sweetened beverages, including fruit juices, and to limit your intake of alcohol, which can suppress fat burning and add up to nutritionally empty calories. Avoiding refined carbs like white bread and rice also helps.
Make sure your diet contains adequate amounts of protein and fiber, including vegetables, beans, peas and whole grains.
Get enough sleep, at least seven hours a night. In a study of 68,000 women followed for 16 years, those who slept less than five hours were 30% more likely to gain about 15 kg.
Finally, move more. A large national study has shown that weight gain and abdominal obesity are more linked to lack of activity than calorie intake.
Chad-98Weaver, a distinguished author at NewsBulletin247, excels in the craft of article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a penchant for storytelling, Chad delivers informative and engaging content that resonates with readers across various subjects. His contributions are a testament to his dedication and expertise in the field of journalism.
