It turns out fixing your belly bulge is more about your health than it is about looking good. Of course, it will make you fit better in your clothes. Still, you should know that reducing your belly fat could lower your risk of many diseases, such as heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, dementia, and even some cancers.
The percent of the fat you carry is essential. Still, it so happens that fat can have a significant difference, mainly when it is around your stomach circumference. Where the fat is in your body has a lot of impact on how harmful it is.
There are three forms of fat, subcutaneous (located just under the skin), intramuscular fat (situated in between muscles), and visceral (found deep in the body). And, two forms of abdominal fat, subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat. Researchers believe that the visceral fat in your midsection increases your risk for multiple diseases, even premature death. Research shows that belly paunch is a sign of inner troubles, bad belly fat called visceral fat. In excess, i.e., abdominal obesity; this visceral fat is so dangerous; it acts as another body organ. It wraps itself around your other body organs, almost squeezing the life out of them and limiting their ability to acquire the right nutrients, emitting harmful hormones and fatty acids while impeding the production of good ones. According to Professor Richard N. Bergman, at USC's Keck School of Medicine, "It seems to have a more negative outcome on health than overall fat."
In that case, it means where your fat is maybe more important than how much fat you might have? So if you have a belly paunch or are trying to lose weight, perhaps the place to put your focus is on your waistline. Unfortunately, most scales are not very good at predicting inches around the waist; neither do they tell you the percent visceral fat in your body. The good news is, the waist inches can be trending downwards even though the scale may not be moving an inch. Even better news, health experts have discovered that getting rid of visceral fat is a little easier than you might think. Regular moderate exercise and a change in diet can help you get rid of large amounts of deep abdominal fat. And some ingredients in detox supplements can help reduce belly fat.
Your natural body shape contributes to the situation. Evenly shaped, apple-shaped, or pear-shaped. Subcutaneous fat results in a pear-shaped body, while visceral fat causes an apple shape body. If you have a big belly and skinny legs, you may be at a higher health risk than someone with big thighs, hips, and a sizable bum. Therefore, being pear-shaped is healthier than being apple-shaped. The message to you and me is clear; reduce your waist inches, and save your life. This message applies to everyone because belly fat around your middle and tummy areas may not always be visible. Meaning, you may have average weight but be at higher risk without knowing.
A study of 27,000 men and women in 52 countries shows that the foremost common contributing fact for heart attacks was abdominal fat, a high waist-to-hip ratio across all ethnic groups.
Where to measure belly fat?
What belly fat do I have, you might ask. How much abdominal fat you have is the perfect question. There is a simple way to measure belly fat in men and women. Below are two ways that you should add to the usual weight and height. BMI tells you the overall fat you have, while waist circumference tells you if you have excess visceral fat or abdominal obesity.
How to measure your waist circumference?
Shoes off and stomach bare: using a simple tape measure, wrap the tape measure loosely around your waist, making sure it is straight at the back and above your hips and level with your belly button. Do not suck your belly in or make the tape measure wrap tightly. Relax, breathe out, and read the measurement on the tape measure. A woman's waist should be below 35 inches or less than 88 cm, while a man's circumference should be below 40 inches or less than 102 cm.
How to measure your hips?
Using a simple tape measure, wrap the tape measure loosely around the broadest bony point of the hips. Read the measurement on the tape measure.
What is your waist-to-hip ratio?
Take your waist measurement, then divide it by your hip measurement.
Waist (inches or cm) / Hips (inches or cm) = ratio
For instance, if your hips measurement is 40 inches, and your waist is 34 inches, your hip-to-waist ratio is 0.85. If you are a man, that is great; if you are a woman, that is right on the limit of healthy.
Where to start losing belly fat?
Weight loss is the only real way to lose visceral fat.
If losing weight is your goal, here are a few steps to follow
- Accepting your natural body shape is step 1.
- Measuring your waist circumference regularly in addition to waist to hip ratio is step 2.
- Working with your natural body shape to reduce the fat around your middle and tummy areas is step 3.
- Reducing the calories, you take in is step 4. Add dietary supplements that can help you achieve your goal faster like a Detox that reduces toxins and belly fat.
- Increasing moderate exercise is step 5.
According to studies by Psychologist Dorothy Hefferman, Ph.D., Glasgow, Scotland, women who try to alter their natural body shape find losing weight frustrating plus find it challenging to stick to weight loss programs.
What you call it does not matter much; whether you call it belly fat, abdominal fat, little abdomen, tummy fat, belly pouch, gut, belly pooch, tummy pooch, lower belly fat, pot belly, beer belly, or stomach pouch. So remember, looking great is fantastic, but the circumference around your stomach is much more critical to your health.
Sources:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15364185/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/abdominal-obesity-and-your-health.shtml