Dangers of abdominal fat

Getting rid of abdominal fat is not only important because it will make you look prettier or more handsome; you will also improve your health and possibly prolong your life. Studies have indicated that people with stomach fat have higher risk of dying than someone with a flatter stomach.

If you have excessive fat around your waist, it can be more dangerous than any other fat on your body. Visceral fat is a bad type of fat that is located deep in the abdomen beneath the muscles and around the internal organs. This type of fat puts you at higher risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other diseases.

1. Insulin Resistance.

One of the ways which excessive belly fat can be dangerous is that it produces certain hormones and substances which can negatively affect your health. For example, raising your blood pressure. Insulin is the hormone that is produced by the pancreas which takes glucose into the body's cells. Your liver is responsible for removing insulin from the bloodstream.

People with too much belly fat will store too much fat in the liver. This will prevent the liver's normal function of removing insulin and and cause your insulin levels to keep rising. This could then cause a heart attack. Insulin resistance happens when your muscles and liver calls stop functioning at normal insulin levels. The glucose levels in your blood rises and is also a risk for diabetes. Getting rid of abdominal fat is one way to reverse, or lower the risk of diabetes.

2. Hormonal Imbalance.

Another effect of too much fat is hormonal imbalance. Both male and female can produce estrogen (a female hormone). The bigger the belly, the more estrogen it will produce. A big belly man will have a high level of estrogen while his testosterone levels will drop. This puts him at risk for prostate cancer, and other problems like low sperm count, and sexual dysfunction. A big belly woman (with the exception that she is pregnant) will produce too much estrogen. This can contribute to breast lumps and cancer among other diseases and dysfunctions.

3. Sleep Apnea.

Abdominal fat can trigger sleep apnea. This is a disorder in which your sleep is disrupted. The airway is blocked by too much tissue around the windpipe and nasal passage as a result of being too fat. Getting rid of abdominal fat will help to solve this problem. So now you know that abdominal fat is not just unattractive, it is a serious risk factor and you need to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

Also read the article how to reduce belly fat fast.

Taken from: News Straits Times - 15 June 2012 (article), Google (images).