Many of us carry a few extra pounds where we don’t want them but did you know that where that weight is carried is as important to health as how much there is? If you have a tendency to gather fat around your waist, you’ll already know how difficult it is to keep slim and how this tends to get worse with age (beer bellies don’t often get smaller after all!). What you may not know is how hazardous the fat around your middle is to your health. In fact carrying fat around the middle increases your risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and also certain cancers.
Where we store fat (surplus calories) is largely a combination of gender, age and genetic inheritance. Men naturally tend to store fat around their middle (apple shape), whereas women typically store fat around the hips, bum and thighs (pear shape). However, women are becoming more and more prone to developing an apple shape in mid-life, particularly after menopause, as female hormone levels drop and so their shape tends to become more ‘male’.
It is not just the female hormones that contribute to stomach overhang. The deposition of fat, particularly round the middle, is controlled by the action of the stress hormones in your body, particularly cortisol and adrenaline. Fasting, food intake, exercising and psychological stressors cause the body to release cortisol in order to remove glucose from our cells and into the blood stream for use as energy. This is the “fight or flight” response and ensures that we have enough energy to run away from the danger our body thinks it is faced with.
Unfortunately, the kind of chronic stress that many of us live under these days produces constantly elevated stress hormone levels. If we go for long periods without food, have very large meals, and consume a lot of sugary and/or caffeinated drinks then we simply exacerbate the problem by triggering cortisol to release extra energy from our body’s stores in response to these stressors on the body. Unfortunately, when the physical effort does not come, the freed-up energy (in the form of glucose and fat) just gets re-deposited as fat around the stomach. And what’s more, cortisol levels stay elevated once the “threat” has passed because it thinks you have been running or fighting for your life and need more food to stock up your energy stores again! That’s when the body’s appetite controlling hormones will send signals to the brain that cause strong cravings for fatty and sugary foods.
Unfortunately because of where the fat sits on your body, normal diets and rigorous exercise regimes rarely work. However with this easy 10 point plan stomach fat can be shifted. It may take time but remember this is not a diet it is a healthy eating regime that can help cut your risk of potentially fatal chronic diseases.
1. Do not diet – very low calorie diets cause the release of adrenaline which encourages the body to store fat
2. Never skip a meal. Eat 5 smaller meals throughout the day
3. Don’t eat on the run. It gives your body the message that time is scarce, you are under pressure and stressed
4. Avoid consuming a lot of sugary and fatty foods that are quickly converted to stored fat
5. Follow a diet that is 50% fruit and vegetables, 25% grains & carbohydrates and 25% lean protein
6. Add a small amount of protein (meat, fish, and pulses) and essential fats (fish, nuts, seeds, green leafy vegetables) to each meal. They slow the passage of the carbohydrates into the blood stream and help boost metabolism
7. Watch what you drink. Cut down on caffeine, sugary drinks and alcohol (except a little red wine)
8. Practice stress management techniques such as yoga, medication and deep breathing
9. Do 4 hours of moderate aerobic exercise per week
10. Add cinnamon to your breakfast daily and take a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a little water prior to each meal. These both help reduce blood sugar levels. You could also try a chromium supplement (at least 200mcg per day), which helps balance blood sugar.
Fat Around the Middle? Why you need to beat the bulge, by Suzanne Laurie