One area of the body that most people, both men and women, find entirely unattractive on their own bodies is their belly. Having a flat stomach or “six pack abs” is the dream of most adults. It is something that adults who are heading for a beach vacation strive to achieve in the months prior to leaving. Those of us who are not satisfied with our stomachs love the winter months where sweat shirts and sweaters can hide our spare tire.
But losing that spare tire is possible. The best part about it is that there is no secret formula, no magic bullet, no special diet plan, and no specific food that especially targets belly fat. And the better news is that belly fat is usually the first fat that is lost when you start to lose weight.
Recent research has linked fat around the abdomen with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. More specifically, it is not the fat that you can grab that poses the highest health risk but rather the deepest layer of fat which produces hormones and other substances that negatively affects your health. This fat is located next to and in between other organs in the abdominal cavity.
Want to know if you are setting the stage for Type 2 Diabetes in your own life? Take a tape measure and measure around your waist at the level of your bellybutton. A measurement that is greater than 35 inches in the women and 40 inches in men is considered unhealthy.
Until most recently the Body Mass Index, a measurement of weight in relationship to height, has been used as a key factor in determining whether or not a person is at risk for diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer. Researchers are now discovering that this number may be inaccurate and misleading.
Resources:
MayoClinic: Belly Fat in Men: Why Weight Loss matters
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/belly-fat/MC00054
Washington University: Belly Fat May Drive Inflammatory Processes Associated with Disease
http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/8947.aspx
University of Michigan: Missing Link Between Belly Fat and Heart Disease
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080122102055.htm
Harvard Health Publications: Belly Fat and What to Do About it
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Abdominal-fat-and-what-to-do-about-it.htm
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