Causes and dangers of abdominal obesity

With the continuous improvement of living standards, people with abdominal obesity are becoming more and more common in daily life. They are usually caused by excessive stress, eating "belly-growing" foods, incorrect exercise methods, lack of sleep and aging. However, abdominal obesity can cause great harm to the body and cause a series of diseases, so it is particularly important to recognize this problem early and eat scientifically and rationally.

1. Causes of abdominal obesity

1. Too much pressure

Time constraints, financial concerns, worrying about the kids...whatever the source of stress is, it can make it difficult to lose excess fat, especially in the belly. Not only is it easier to eat high-fat, high-calorie foods when you're stressed, the stress hormone cortisol also increases the amount of fat your body needs and enlarges your fat cells.

2. Eating foods that make your belly grow

The first type of food is cooking oil. Cooking oil is almost entirely fat, which, after being digested and absorbed by the human body, will be stored indefinitely as belly fat. In addition, there are foods high in fat, such as fried dough sticks, fried cakes, crispy biscuits, and instant noodles.

The second type of food is refined grains, such as white rice, white steamed bread, white noodles, etc., which will stimulate the secretion of large amounts of insulin and cause fat to concentrate in the belly.

The third type of food is beverages and sweets, which contain a lot of sugar and will contribute to the formation of belly fat.

The fourth type of food is alcohol. Alcohol will cause excess energy, accumulate in the abdomen, and accelerate the formation of belly fat.

3. You’re exercising the wrong way

Doing only aerobic exercises such as running or cycling will not help much in losing belly fat. You need a combination of strength training and aerobic training. This will increase muscle, which burns more calories than fat.

In addition, insufficient exercise intensity will greatly reduce the effect of weight loss. Studies have shown that people who perform high-intensity exercise lose more abdominal fat than those who do low-intensity exercise. It is recommended that you do 250 minutes of moderate-intensity or 125 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week.

4. Lack of sleep

A 16-year study of nearly 70,000 women found that those who slept five hours or less a night were 30% more likely to gain 13.6 kilograms or more than those who slept seven hours. The National Institutes of Health recommends that adults get 7 to 8 hours of sleep per day.

5. It’s hard to lose weight when you’re older

As we age, our metabolism slows down and our body uses fewer calories to function. In addition, if a woman gains weight during menopause, it is likely that the fat is in her abdomen.

2. The harm of abdominal obesity

First of all, the abdomen is the part where humans store the most fat, because it is easy to carry and does not affect human walking and other actions. So naturally it will be mainly concentrated around the abdomen. But often abdominal obesity is indeed the most dangerous. Abdominal fat not only accumulates in the abdominal wall, but also accumulates in the internal organs. Although a certain amount of visceral fat is necessary for the human body, because visceral fat surrounds the human organs, it plays a supporting, stabilizing and protective role for the human organs. However, the harm caused by excessive visceral fat is unavoidable. The most dangerous situation can lead to heart disease. Excessive visceral fat can cause cardiac hypertrophy, which in turn greatly reduces the heart's pumping efficiency, leading to shortness of breath. In severe cases, it can lead to sudden lack of blood supply to the heart and sudden death. However, not only does it cause heart disease, excessive visceral fat can also make it more difficult for obese people to breathe because when people lie flat, any fat in the abdomen will compress the lungs, causing obese people to feel short of breath when lying down. The more difficult it is to breathe, the more likely it is that insufficient oxygen will be delivered to the bloodstream, leading to general fatigue, impaired immunity, and even high blood pressure.

Men with waist circumference > 90 cm and women with waist circumference > 85 cm are both typical "visceral fat type" obesity. The World Health Organization pointed out in a survey report on weight loss concepts among obese people in various countries around the world that 91% of women who care about their family's health are eager to help their family or themselves lose fat but only focus on losing "subcutaneous fat" and ignore "visceral fat."

Whether you want to lose "subcutaneous fat" or "visceral fat", eating is a very critical step. Here I would like to emphasize and recommend a very simple dietary principle, the 211 rule. It is a relatively healthy and simple eating method to choose two fists-sized amounts of vegetables, one fist-sized amount of meat, and one fist-sized amount of staple food for each meal. Of course, taking a walk in the park after dinner is also a good choice.