Gym members were asked to tell what their least favorite body parts were. The answer? "My belly!"
One member writes, "I am carrying a small village in my belly. It is grotesque! I have no hips and no rear end but an enormous belly!
"But the concern over a "flabby belly" is more serious than simply not looking good in a bathing suit. Researchers are finding that abdominal fat leads to higher risks of heart disease, diabetes and even certain types of cancers.
We're all aware that lack of exercise and a diet of burgers and fries will cause our bellies to expand, but who knew that those late nights at the office, the stress of that big project or the hidden trans fats in our favorite vending machine snacks were adding dangerous inches to our midsections?
In a society where workaholics reign, Americans are more sleep-deprived, stress-ridden and crunched for time than ever before. We want the quickest solutions, the fastest foods (usually supersized), and, despite the caffeine running through our veins, we just can’t seem to find the time to work out.
Are our waistlines growing out of our control?Three ways to blast the belly fat:
1 Avoid Trans Fat
2 Get More Sleep
3 Manage Your Stress
Waist-to-Hip Ratio, BMI and Belly Fat: What It All MeansUntil recently, BMI or Body Mass Index (a measurement of weight in relation to height), was used as a key factor in determining the likelihood of developing heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancers. Now, researchers around the world are discovering that BMI is the wrong number to rely on and dangerously misleading.
Typically, a BMI of 20 to 25 is considered normal, the range between 25 to 30 is overweight and more than 30, obese. The problems arise when certain factors, such as muscle mass and fat deposition, are not taken into consideration. Because muscle is much denser than fat and takes up less space, two individuals of the same height and weight could have the same BMI, even though one may have a significantly higher percentage of body fat than the other.
Researchers now know that if most of your fat is in the tummy area, your health risks are greater than if it resides in, say, the hips, thighs or rear (sometimes referred to as the apple versus pear theory ).Belly fat is "metabolically active" and could possibly increase colon cancer risk by raising levels of certain hormones that affect cell growth, including the growth of cancer cells.Consequently, waist-to-hip ratio (a measurement of waist size divided by hip size) is a more reliable gauge of your risk factors for certain diseases, such as heart attacks. A ratio of above 0.85 for women and above 0.90 for men is higher than average and typically indicates greater risk. And when it comes to a disease such as colon cancer, women have the highest risk. Female participants of the study with the most abdominal fat had a 48 percent greater chance of developing colon cancer, with men at a slightly lower chance of 39 percent.
Surprising Solutions
Of course, there are always extreme cases in which diet and exercise are simply not enough for decreasing dangerous levels of abdominal fat. In these situations, prescription drugs and surgeries such as gastric bypass are options to consider, but only if the benefits outweigh the risks. If you're simply looking to invest in your future health or coveting your favorite celebrity's midriff, start adding these three Belly Blaster Tips into your normal diet and exercise routine and watch your waistline shrink:
1. Don't Get Trapped by Trans FatsWhat you don't eat is just as important to your waistline as what you're eating. A recent study done at Wake Forest University has concluded that trans fat, which has been shown to increase the risk of heart disease, may also increase dangerous belly fat.Trans fat is formed during a hydrogenation process in which vegetable oil is converted into a solid to increase shelf life of a food. As of this year, manufacturers were required to list trans fat on the labels of their products.
2. Get More Z'sStudies have shown that those who get less than four hours of sleep per night are more than 70 percent more likely to be obese than those who get seven to nine hours. Sleep deprivation lowers leptin, a protein that suppresses appetite and tells the brain when the stomach is full. Not catching enough Z's also inhibits the production of insulin, which regulates blood sugar. So, if you're constantly burning the midnight oil, you're interfering with your body's ability to burn off extra calories.
3. Managing StressThe "Fight or Flight" response has been around for millions of years, but it could also be adding unwanted inches to your waistline. When faced with stressful situations, our bodies release a hormonal cocktail of adrenaline, cortisol and insulin.Not only have high cortisol levels been associated with increased appetite and fat production, but the fat has been shown to typically deposit itself in the belly area.
