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Excess Abdominal Fat – the risks

Unfortunately the people in the countries in the developed world have increasingly been gaining weight in general but in particular have excess abdominal fat.

Many people become frustrated about this when they look in the mirror and are unhappy about the restrictions on their activities. Weight gain has serious health implications but it is the stomach fat in particular that is indicative of an increasing health risk, and this is not often realized.

The main problem is the visceral fat that surrounds the internal organs within the body cavities. It has been identified as a higher risk than the fat on the outside of your abdominal muscles (subcutaneous fat).

This visceral belly fat has been connected to all sorts of health risks with new reports of other risks coming out often. These risks include heart disease and strokes, and associated high blood pressure, diabetes (especially Type 2), quite a few different kinds of cancer (including breast cancer), metabolic disorders, gallbladder problems, and as many wives would attest, sleep apnea and snoring. This must give some importance to an effort to get rid of that weight.

An indication of this fat type is the rounded body shape and not so much the pear shape. The best measurement is at the waist and this will often indicate potential health issues. The use of the BMI (Body Mass Index) does not measure the riskier visceral fat, but is mainly a measure of total body fat.

This visceral fat tends to be easier to reduce through both diet and exercise and your health risks will drop accordingly. This fat seems to have a role in producing hormones that can adversely affect our health in liver function, cholesterol levels, and insulin resistance, and cancer susceptibility, and so it is well worth the effort of trying to reduce.

The belly fat on the outside of the abdominals and under the skin is less risky health wise but can be more tricky to get rid of.

Luckily there are ways to lower the risks. Exercising up to three times a week with the big muscles of the legs and arms will certainly benefit your program.

A combination of some mildly aerobic exercises such as walking and jogging, together with the use of weight training with an emphasis on the bigger muscle groups will increase calorie burn both during and after the exercise session.

Concentration on a healthy diet incorporating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, combined with modest portions of lean protein sources such as lean meat, will also help in reducing belly fat.

For more information check out :-

http://www.lose-belly-now.com/excess-abdominal-fat-risks.php

Or for lots of other information check out:-

http://www.lose-belly-now.com

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This entry was posted on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 12:27 pm and is filed under clean eating, diet, dieting, glycemic index, healthy eating, lose weight, low carb, low fat, weight loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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