If you’re carrying extra weight around your middle, you may be habouring toxic fat. The rolls of fat you see around your waistline are a sign that you also have fat deep inside the belly and around your organs. This is called visceral fat and it releases toxic chemicals that increase the risk of health problems like heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.
The more belly fat you can see, the greater the odds that some of it is visceral fat and the greater the health risks. If you are struggling to shift stubborn belly fat, you might be surprised to learn about some of the factors that contribute to it.
Tackle some of these issues and you’ll be on the way to a slimmer and healthier middle:
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The stress hormone cortisol can add centimetres to your waistline. Even if you are normally slim, when you get stressed, you’ll release more cortisol – and gain more belly fat – that those who don’t stress so easily.
Solution:
Find ways to relax and manage your stress. Meditate, go for a walk, listen to music or talk with a friend.
Skipping meals and eating only once a day triggers changes in our metabolism that can lead to a spare tyre and associated problems like insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Solution:
Eat three healthy meals a day to keep your metabolism ticking over.
Depression creates chemical changes such as a rise in cortisol and other inflammatory chemicals that contribute to belly fat. So if you are depressed it’s more likely that you will struggle to manage your weight and any excess weight will gather around the middle.
Solution:
If you suspect that you are depressed, speak to your doctor about the most effective treatment, which may include exercise, better sleep and connecting with family and friends.
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If you are overweight and want to lose belly fat head to a yoga class, particularly if you are female with a body mass index (BMI) of 30+. This could be because yoga helps us to relax and reduces those stress hormones that increase belly fat.
Solution:
Any physical activity and exercise is good for general health, but try to fit in a weekly yoga session as well.
If you drink soft drinks every day, you’re almost four times more likely to see your waistline expand, compared to people who don’t have soft drinks. This is because some artificial sweeteners change gut bacteria and this change increases fat around the stomach.
Solution:
Limit soft drinks and instead drink still or mineral water with a slice of lemon or lime.
The type of fat in your food has an impact on where excess body fat is stored. Saturated fats ‘turn on’ genes in fatty tissue that increase storage around the stomach and liver. Healthier polyunsaturated fats – from plant foods and oily fish – do the opposite and actually switch on genes in fatty tissues that reduce fat storage.
Solution:
Replace saturated fats found in butter, meat, and products containing palm oil with unsaturated fats from plant oils and oily fish. So eat less butter and fewer pastries and switch to eating more nuts, olive oil, and salmon or tuna.
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Alcohol consumption is on the rise and women are drinking more than ever. If you drink a glass of wine every so often but maintain a healthy weight, it won’t be an issue. But if you have a higher energy diet, low physical activity and put alcohol on top – that all contributes to fat accumulation.
Solution:
Healthy drinking guidelines recommend having no more than two standard drinks on any day, with two alcohol-free days a week. A standard drink is a 100 ml glass of red or white wine, or a 30 ml nip of high-strength spirit.
(Text by Sarah Marinos, Good Health (Bauer) / Additional Reporting by Natalya Molok)