Your Stomach and Your Health

ByGregg Ghelfi

Beer belly and pot belly are names given to abdominal fat or central obesity. It is more common in men but women are not immune to accumulating fat in their stomachs. Aside from making clothes shopping more difficult, a distended stomach may be a sign of looming health issues such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiovascular disease. It is also one of the factors in Metabolic Syndrome which are a grouping of health issues that also include high blood pressure, elevated levels of fat in the blood and insulin resistance.

Most people think of fat as fat. A quick look at one's Body Mass Index or body fat percentage is all that is needed to know about someone's fat accumulation and potential health issues. For a fortunate few, this is simply not true. As many as thirty to forty percent of obese people may not have obesity related health issues.(1) These individuals appear to have less visceral fat and more subcutaneous.

Subcutaneous is the fat you see. It is under the skin and it often accumulates in the hips and upper legs and arms. Visceral fat is the fat that surrounds the organs such as the stomach, intestines, liver and heart. It is normally associated with a protruding stomach but your gut is a combination of subcutaneous and visceral fat.

Why is visceral fat bad?

Both subcutaneous and visceral fat are linked to health issues but visceral fat appears to be more harmful. Visceral fat surrounds the organs protecting them from harm. It is a necessary and beneficial tissue. Problems develop when we get too much of it. Excess visceral fat leads a number of health issues.

Excess visceral fat goes to the liver for the production of glucose, triglycerides and harmful cholesterol in the form of very low density lipoprotein. (2)
Adipose cells, cells that house the fat, will expand until they explode causing inflammation and allowing fat cells to seep into the veins where they contribute to cardiovascular issues.
Visceral fat tissue may secrete pro-inflammatory cells that, along with free fatty acids, affects insulin resistance which may lead to type II diabetes.
Finally, visceral fat tissue may secrete hormones that increase hunger and stimulate excess fat to leave adipose tissue and roam the blood vessels where they contribute to atherosclerosis. (3)

Measuring up: should I be concerned?

If you are overweight, you should be concerned. The healthcare costs of obese people are estimated to be forty percent higher than those who are normal weight. (4) However, if you carry your weight around your stomach, the risks health issues are even greater.

So how do you know if you are in the higher risk category? You have three simple tests that you can do at home.

Look in the mirror. Are you pear shaped or apple shaped? Pear shaped is where excess fat is carried around the hips and buttocks. Apple shaped is where excess fat is carried in the stomach. If you would describe yourself as apple shaped, you may be at risk.
Measure your waist circumference just above your belly button.
A waist circumference greater than 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women is considered excessive.
Measure your hip circumference at the widest part of your buttocks and calculate your waist to hip ratio. A waist to hip ratio is the waist circumference divided by the hip circumference.
For women, a ratio greater than.85 is considered a high health risk. For men, a ratio greater than 1.0 is considered a high health risk.

What can I do about it?

So you carry your weight in your stomach. Now what? While you should not panic, you should be concerned. You could be among the fortunate who are overweight but not pre-disposed to weight related health issues. But you shouldn't count on it. Below are four simple things you can do.

See your doctor. If you have excess stomach fat you may already have health related issues. A check up and blood test may reveal them.
Get moving. Exercise will reduce weight and fat. You don't need to run a marathon or hike Everest. Adding just thirty minutes of exercise a day will produce benefits.
Lose weight. A 10% reduction in weight can significantly decrease fat and lead to health benefits.
Eat whole grains instead of refined grains. In a recent study, visceral fat was about ten percent lower in individuals who ate approximately 3 or more servings of whole grains. The benefits diminished if the person ate more than 4 servings of refined grains. (4)

References

Marie-Soleil Gauthier and Neil B. Ruderman, Adipose tissue inflammation and insulin resistance: all are not created equal, Biochem J. (2010)430, e1-e4
Yishai Levy MD, It's not only the Overweight: It's the Visceral Fat, IMAJ Vol 12, April 2010
WF Ferris and NJ Crowther, Once Fat was fat and that was that: our changing perspectives on adipose tissue, Cardiovascular Journal of Africa, Vol 22, No 3, May/June 2011
Nicola M. McKeown, Lisa M Troy, et al., Whole and refined grain intakes are differentially associated with abdominal visceral and subcutaneous adiposity in healthy adults: The Framingham Heart Study, AM J Clin Nutr 2010;92:1165-1171

Gregg Ghelfi is founder and contributor to http://fitinthemiddle.com. Fit in the Middle is dedicated to providing information and resources on nutrition, fitness and weight loss. We invite you to read our blog at http://fitinthemiddle.com/blog/ and comment on the various articles. We also welcome you to submit guest blogs to info@fitinthemiddle.com.

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Health and Fitness: Weight-Loss
Gregg Ghelfi

Email Address:SubscribeWeight Loss Article FeedFind More ArticlesSearchRecent ArticlesShould I Weigh Myself? Three Tips For SuccessHow To Lose Weight Fast - Why Should You Exercise Less But With More IntensityDon't Diet, Change Your LifestyleHow to Get Rid of Muffin Top FatThe GERD Diet: Food and LifestyleWhat If You Can't Lose Weight? Try The FollowingSimple Steps to Get Rid of Your Excessive-Weight ProblemsSimple Ways to Transform the Belly Bulge Into Fine AbsCost Of Vegan Diet - May Be Worth It No Matter What The CostWhy You Can't Lose Weight: Is It "A Perfect Storm" or "The Diet Matrix"?Submitted On January 27, 2012. Viewed 10 times. Word count: 869.

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