With the norm of body positivity spreading around the world, more and more people are getting confident with their bodies.
But that should not mean we are to remain unconscious of our health so much so we start taking it for granted.
Some things harm our health in more ways than we can imagine. In this blog today, we’re going to discuss one such health issue many people are facing, which is belly fat.
We’d learn whether is belly fat harmful to us or not and if yes, what are the ways efficiently reduce it.
Is Belly Fat Harmful?
Belly Fat refers to the fat that resides in the middle of the body. It comes under two categories that are, Subcutaneous fat and Visceral Fat.
Subcutaneous is the fat found under the skin, one that you feel when you pinch your skin.
Visceral Fat, on the other hand, is fat present in the abdomen area where it accumulates in the spaces between internal organs.
Belly Fat, especially visceral fat, is deemed harmful by physicians around the world.
The presence of excess visceral fat pushes your belly out which, as a result, turns into hanging belly fat.
Apart from getting body conscious and feeling general unease, the protruding lower belly fat pouch causes negative effects on health. It leads to the development of various chronic metabolic diseases such as
1. Dementia
A Californian study stated that the highest levels of visceral fat increase the risk of developing dementia up to three times between the ages of 30s and 40s.
2. Asthma
Large studies claim that high levels of visceral fat increase the risk of asthma by 37% in females This fat causes inflammatory effects throughout the body including the lung airways.
3. Cancer
Some studies suggest a link between cancer and fat as well. Visceral fat, especially, increases the risk of colorectal and breast cancer up to almost double among postmenopausal women.
4. Heart Attack
Cardiovascular health remains at the most risk due to visceral fat. Experts believe it plays a crucial role in increasing the risk of repeat heart attacks.
Many abdominally obese people have experienced second heart attacks despite taking proper medication and care.
The baseline, therefore, remains that belly fat is extremely harmful to your body. But do you know what causes belly fat to increase?
What Causes Belly Fat?
Apart from obvious reasons like excessive eating and having an unbalanced diet, belly fat also depends on factors such as hormones, age, and gender.
Especially females, if we look at what food causes belly fat in females, we’ll find different answers than in males.
And this is why many brands provide weight loss pills for women so that females can maintain their bodies despite their hectic lifestyles.
However, the prime factors that are responsible for belly fat remain diet, weight, and activity levels.
If we keep a balance in all three of these, we can easily move towards a healthier lifestyle.
Keep in mind, having belly fat is not problematic the problems occur when one has an unhealthy amount of fat stored in his abdominal area.
Do You Have Belly Fat?
An estimate of your weight gives an estimate of your belly fat. It generally subsides in the case of being overweight.
One of the efficient ways of checking if you are overweight or not is by checking the Body Mass Index (BMI). It is calculated by dividing the weight (in kilograms) by the square of your height (in meters).
Then check where you fall among the following BMI Categories: –
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
Overweight = 25–29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater
You can also check your waist circumference for measurements. For men, it is less than 94cm (37 inches), while for women it’s less than 80cm (32 inches).
Don’t worry, if your BMI and waist circumference falls in the obese category, There are some ways that can be helpful in reducing belly fat.
Ways To Reduce Belly Fat
If you’re suffering from the problem of excessive belly fat and finding ways how to lose visceral fat, we’ve found some efficient beginner steps.
1. Reduce Your Sugar Intake
Uncontrolled sugar intake is the underlying cause of a lot of health problems.
Food containing too much sugar just acts as an “empty calorie” for the body as it gives us no nutrients but only a high-calorie count.
This high calorie increases the fat and affects the body in many other ways. One way to reduce the daily sugar intake is to cut short on soft drinks.
Surprisingly, a lot of fizzy drinks, alcohol, squash, and energy drinks along with others contain huge amounts of sugar.
Even regulating the amount of sugar intake can show you immediate positive changes in your body.
2. Manage Stress and Sleep
Looking after your mental well-being immediately helps with your physical well-being. Stress acts as a catalyst in triggering a lot of health issues.
Getting enough sleep, which is another factor that can help you reduce belly fat, is also closely related to reducing stress. Stress, depression, fatigue, and anxiety are invisible factors that contribute to weight gain.
3. Have a Balanced Diet
The most frequent advice given to anybody who is facing health issues is to have a balanced diet.
Having a balanced diet means choosing and eating healthy from the ever-present major food groups, which include fruits and vegetables, starch, protein, fat, and dairy products (or its alternative).
Eating a protein-rich diet especially helps you in reducing belly fat. This is because protein intake keeps the body feeling full which reduces hunger and thus, also reduces the calorie intake.
A balanced diet gives us all the important nutrients without overdosing on anything.
4. Be Active
Various exercises claim to reduce belly fat, but cardio and strength training are major ones.
Without being a serious fitness freak, you can still help the body weight and reduce abdominal fat by just being physically active in doing random chores.
Furthermore, performing regular physicals activities will not only lose belly fat but will also give you a lean and good-looking physique which is extremely important in today’s world, especially for working females.
Having a good physique gives you confidence which directly reflects on your work. So, if you are interested in sculpting the body the way you want, go through this blog – How to tone your body for Females.
Conclusion
Through the blog, we learned that belly fat when accumulated in the form of visceral fats can prove very harmful to our health.
This health condition can lead to serious life-threatening diseases like heart attack, asthma, and cancer.
Furthermore, it not only leads to adverse physical problems but also can affect our mental health and make us demotivated and slow.
We also went through some ways which when followed seriously and consistently, can help in the reduction of these excessive harmful fats.
For example, having a balanced diet, reducing sugar intake, managing stress, having proper sleep, and being active throughout the day can be extremely beneficial for people who are struggling with obesity.
Share this blog with your friends and family if you find it informative and helpful.
