A recent study revealed that beer guts and flabby love handles are worse than just being overweight. Men (and women) who are not really fit focus on reducing their saggy bellies. They are right in doing this because the tummy is where fat accumulates fast, and stays there longer.
According to the study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, there is a very important reason why a person needs to be worried about having excessive amounts of fat in the stomach. The study concluded that this condition should be considered as deadlier that being obese or overweight.
The authors of the study gathered and analyzed data they got from 15,000 adults in the United States. These subjects where in the age range between 18 and 90. The study concentrated on the BMIs of the subjects or their ‘central obesity’. This is a person’s waist size compared to his hip size.
The authors found out that a man with a normal central obesity and BMI has a greater total mortality risk than a man with the same BMI but doesn’t have central obesity. That means a fellow who is not too heavy but have too much fat on his stomach has a greater mortality risk than a man who is obese or overweight.
In fact, the study authors found out that his mortality risk is two times that of the man who is overweight or obese if only the person’s BMI is considered. The funding of the study was provided by the American Heart Association, the National Institute of Health and a number of health organizations in Europe.
This study clearly points out that men with oversized, fatty bellies have a higher risk of dying young compared to the obese and overweight fellows which don’t have fat bellies.
The study also proffered that guys with large guts may have a bigger proportion of visceral fats. These types of fats build up underneath a person’s musculature. They also surround the person’s internal organs such as the pancreas and liver.
These fats can also cause the body to be effectively numb to leptin, a natural ‘hunger hormone.’ This means that the body will never feel the need to control the appetite and to burn more calories.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, stated that they have actually proven that a man can be centrally obese but have normal BMI. But that person has a greater risk for serious health conditions. Dr. Lopez-Jimenez, incidentally, is connected with the Mayo Clinic as a cardiovascular specialist.
Although there are inherent flaws in correlating BMI with the percentage of body fat, the study merits consideration by those affected by the results. BMI is strictly confined to comparing mass to height. However, it is still a reliable measure of a man’s general size, especially if it is the size of his waist that dominates his overall figure.
The most important question is: if your belly has too much fat, what are you going to do about it? Since you now know that this is dangerous to your health, and even if you are not generally obese, the study encourages you to do best to reduce your waist line – if you want to live longer.
But the thing is: it is almost impossible to spot-reduce fats in your body. It doesn’t matter what type of rapid weight loss programs or crash diets you may undertake, you will not be able to magically erase your belly fat in a short time.
Since fat around the waist is the most stubborn fat there is, you must commit to a fit and healthy lifestyle combined with the right amount of exercise that will not only reduce your belly fat but will also improve your general health. To finalize everything what we just said, make sure you stop by your local gym such as Pure Barre or Bay Club for a professional advice that will help you start loosing that extra weight that has to go!