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Why you have belly fat
What you need to know:
- Have you been working out but still do not see the belly fat shifting?
- That is because this kind of fat is caused by a combination of factors such as poor diet, lack of exercise, and stress.
- To successfully annihilate belly fat, one needs to make sure that all the above are properly managed, writes Beatrice Nakibuuka.
Having belly fat puts you at risk for inflammatory diseases like diabetes, heart disease, dementia, cancer and even depression. The risks for problems such as sexual dysfunction and sleep problems also come as a result of the belly fat.
When people think about fat, most think of fat around the muscles and beneath the skin, but the type of fat that is stored around the abdominal organs such as intestines, liver, kidney and even the pancreas, is very harmful to health.
How does fat build up?
Foods high in refined sugar such as table sugar, soda, ice cream, bread etc, our blood sugar levels spike, according to Dr Paul Kasenene. This causes the body to produce large amounts of insulin (the blood sugar regulation hormone).
He says, “This hormone is known to make the body store large amounts of fat especially if you ate more sugar than you needed but it also makes you hungry. So eating high sugar foods and refined carbohydrate-rich foods leads to a vicious cycle of hunger, craving for sugar, more eating, more insulin production, and eventually fat production and storage. And the fat is stored mostly around the belly.”
The body stores toxins in fat cells to prevent them from causing harm. Common toxins include substances such as alcohol, tobacco, sugar, flavourings, food additives and even other environmental pollutants. Now the organ for removing toxins is the liver.
“The body, therefore, stores toxins in fat that is as close to the liver as possible. The abdomen is, therefore, the most ideal place. And so high toxin burden contributes to building up of belly and intra-abdominal fat,” Dr Kasenene says.
When we are stressed, the body produces chemicals like cortisol, a steroid hormone that interferes with appetite control, sleep, and metabolism and can also stimulate cravings. All these contribute to visceral fat production.
Feeding recommendations
Drinking lots of water helps with sugar metabolism, as well as helping the body to flush out toxins.
The doctor says: “Vegetables are high in antioxidants that your liver uses to eliminate toxins. But they are also high in fibre and low in calories that will help to avoid sugar spikes. Eat less sugary and refined foods and do more of foods rich in fiber and reduce calorie intake.”
Eating fruits is also a good way to get all the nutrients you need without the spikes that can come from converting fruit into juice.
Detoxify
Detoxifying the body helps reduce your belly fat. “This does not mean buying a fancy supplement or doing a colon cleanser. Eat foods high in antioxidants. A juice only diet for a short period of time can help but remember it should be made from the whole food, no added sugar and mostly vegetables.”
Exercise helps to balance insulin and makes our cells better at using glucose so we don’t have to store much as fat.
“Manage your stress,” warns Dr Kasenene. Many of us know we are stressed but don’t do much about it. This is just an appeal to get you thinking about how you can take steps within your control right now to start managing stress. I will in a future newsletter share something about this.” Get enough and good quality sleep. Good reset has been shown to help with reducing sugar cravings but more importantly to help with regulation of blood sugar and stress hormones, two of the biggest drivers of visceral fat production and increase in our belly sizes.
