Abdominal obesity
Abdominal obesity | |
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Specialty | Endocrinology ![]() |
Abdominal obesity, colloquially known as belly fat or clinically as central obesity, is the accumulation of abdominal fat resulting in an increase in waist size. There is a strong correlation between central obesity and cardiovascular disease.[1]
Visceral fat, also known as organ fat or intra-abdominal fat, is located inside the peritoneal cavity, packed in between internal organs and torso, as opposed to subcutaneous fat which is found underneath the skin, and intramuscular fat which is found interspersed in skeletal muscle. Visceral fat is composed of several adipose depots including mesenteric, epididymal white adipose tissue (EWAT) and perirenal fat. An excess of visceral fat is known as central obesity, the "pot belly" or "beer belly" effect, in which the abdomen protrudes excessively. This body type is also known as "apple shaped", as opposed to "pear shaped", in which fat is deposited on the hips and buttocks.
Causes
The immediate cause of obesity is net energy imbalance — the organism consumes more usable calories than it expends, wastes, or discards via elimination. The fundamental cause of obesity is not well understood, but is presumably a combination of the organism's genes and environment. The specific cause of central fat is also not well understood[citation needed].
In humans, central obesity is correlated with overeating and a sedentary lifestyle. Hypercortisolism, such as in Cushing's syndrome also leads to central obesity. Many prescription drugs can also have side effects resulting in obesity[citation needed].
Because fat in the midsection contains the greatest amount of cortisol receptors, fat is created and stored in the midsection, specifically in fat cell deposits deep in the abdomen.[2]
Diagnosis
While central obesity can be obvious just by looking at the naked body (see the picture), the severity of central obesity is determined by taking waist and hip measurements. The absolute waist circumference (>102 centimetres (40 in) in men and >88 centimetres (35 in) in women) and the waist-hip ratio (>0.9 for men and >0.85 for women)[3] are both used as measures of central obesity. A differential diagnosis includes distinguishing central obesity from ascites and intestinal bloating. In the cohort of 15,000 people participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), waist circumference explained obesity-related health risk better than the body mass index (or BMI) when metabolic syndrome was taken as an outcome measure and this difference was statistically significant. In other words, excessive waist circumference appears to be more of a risk factor for metabolic syndrome than BMI.[4]
An increasing acceptance of the importance of central obesity within the medical profession as an indicator of health risk has led to new developments in obesity diagnosis such as the Body Volume Index, which measures central obesity by measuring a person’s body shape and their weight distribution.
BVI is based upon the principle that excess abdominal weight, measured by part volume as a percentage of total volume, constitutes a greater health risk. Recent validation has concluded that total and regional body volume estimates correlate positively and significantly with biomarkers of cardio-vascular risk and BVI calculations correlate significantly with all biomarkers of cardio-vascular risk.[5]
Say Goodbye To Your Beer Belly Fat For Good!
If you're like many people in America and all over the world, you may be a big fan of beer. Depending on how much you drink, you may have noticed that your stomach is slowly growing and you're gaining some beer belly fat. If this is you, there's some things you can do to lose it, but first you need to know why beer is so commonly linked to getting belly fat.
You may already know the following facts:
1. Beer contains a lot of calories, usually over 100 per 12 oz. can depending on what kind you drink. And when you drink more than one, the calories can add up really quick. And when you take in more calories than your body burns, you gain fat.
2. Beer also contains alcohol, which I'm sure you already knew. But alchohol is a depressant. When you consume beer, the alcohol will get into your system and slow down your metabolism. This will results in your body burning less calories on a daily basis. And coupled with the amount of calories in beer, there's a good chance that this is one cause of your beer belly fat.
Ever Heard Of Estrogenic Compounds?
Since you aren't learning anything new by reading the two facts above, I'll give you something that you probably don't know. The hops in beer contains an estrogenic compound that will also promote fat gain. These compounds, while sounding more scary to guys, are bad for both men and women. They add estrogen to your body's chemistry and will create an imbalance in your hormones. This hormonal imbalance is another huge reason that you may have belly fat.
So how do you fix this problem?
One idea that you can throw around is to stop drinking beer altogether. However, this is not what I do. Personally, I like to drink fewer darker beers because they taste better, and dark beer has some antioxidants and other stuff that make it better for you than mass produced light beer. I would highly suggest that you cut your drinking back, especially if you drink a lot. Doing so will make it much easier to burn off that beer belly fat.
After you cut back, there is something you can do to fight the estrogenic compounds that you get from the few beers you drink too.
Fight Your Beer Belly Fat With The Right Foods
Thankfully, there's a lot of food out there that will work in our bodies to right any hormonal imbalances we might have going on and neutralize the estrogenic compounds we are getting from the beer we drink.
Here's the list:
* onions * garlic * leafy greens * broccoli * cabbage * berries * citrus fruits * raw nuts & seeds
These foods will fight the excess estrogen you may have in your body and help you in your goal to get rid of that beer belly fat. One thing to keep in mind is that estrogenic compounds are not only found in beer, but other foods as well (soy is one of them). This is why it's important to make the above foods apart of your daily diet.
Just eating the right food alone is a good start, but it definitely isn't the fastest way to get rid of your beer belly. Combining the right foods with the right exercises to lose stomach fat is a surefire way to cut down the time it takes to get your body in great shape. The problem is that there's a lot of bad information out there and it's hard to know which exercises and diet plans will work the best. To make it easier on you, I made a short fat burning video that explains my #1 secret to burning fat in the shortest amount of time possible. Written by Sivaraj. Chennai, India
Health risks
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Excess_adipose_tissue.jpg/190px-Excess_adipose_tissue.jpg)
Central obesity is associated with a statistically higher risk of heart disease, hypertension, insulin resistance, and Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 (see below). Belly fat is a symptom of metabolic syndrome, and is an indicator used in the diagnosis of that disorder.[6][7][8]
Central obesity can be a feature of lipodystrophies, a group of diseases which is either inherited, or due to secondary causes (often protease inhibitors, a group of medications against AIDS). Central obesity is a symptom of Cushing's syndrome[9] and is also common in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Central obesity is associated with glucose intolerance and dyslipidemia.
Relationship with diabetes
There are numerous theories as to the exact cause and mechanism in Type 2 Diabetes. Central obesity is known to predispose individuals for insulin resistance. Abdominal fat is especially active hormonally, secreting a group of hormones called adipokines that may possibly impair glucose tolerance.
Insulin resistance is a major feature of Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 (T2DM), and central obesity is correlated with both insulin resistance and T2DM itself.[10][11] Increased adiposity (obesity) raises serum resistin levels,[12][13][14][15] which in turn directly correlate to insulin resistance.[16][17][18][19] Studies have also confirmed a direct correlation between resistin levels and T2DM.[12][20][21][22] And it is waistline adipose tissue (central obesity) which seems to be the foremost type of fat deposits contributing to rising levels of serum resistin.[23][24] Conversely, serum resistin levels have been found to decline with decreased adiposity following medical treatment.[25]
Relationship with Alzheimer's Disease
A US study reported in May 2010 Annals of Neurology examining over 700 adults found evidence to suggest higher volumes of visceral fat, regardless of overall weight, were associated with smaller brain volumes and increased risk of dementia.[26][27][28]
Waist–hip ratio
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Obesity-waist_circumference.svg/190px-Obesity-waist_circumference.svg.png)
The absolute waist circumference (>102 cm in men and >88 cm in women) and the waist–hip ratio (the circumference of the waist divided by that of the hips of >0.9 for men and >0.85 for women) are both used as measures of central obesity.[3]
In those with a BMI under 35, intra-abdominal body fat is related to negative health outcomes independent of total body fat.[29] Intra-abdominal or visceral fat has a particularly strong correlation with cardiovascular disease.[3]
Sex differences
Female sex hormone causes fat to be stored in the buttocks, thighs, and hips in women. Men are more likely to have fat stored in the belly due to sex hormone differences. When women reach menopause and the estrogen produced by ovaries declines, fat migrates from their buttocks, hips and thighs to their waists;[30] later fat is stored in the belly.[31]
Prevention and treatments
Performing adequate aerobic exercise and eating a healthy diet can prevent central obesity, and losing weight via these methods is the main way to reverse the condition.[32][unreliable source?]
Adjunctive therapies which may be prescribed by a physician are orlistat or sibutramine, although the latter has been associated with increased cardiovascular events and strokes and has been withdrawn from the market in the United States,[33] the UK,[34] the EU,[35] Australia,[36] Canada[37], Hong Kong[38] ,Thailand[39] and Mexico.
In the presence of diabetes mellitus type 2, the physician might instead prescribe metformin and thiazolidinediones (rosiglitazone or pioglitazone) as anti-diabetic drugs rather than sulfonylurea derivatives. Thiazolidinediones may cause slight weight gain but decrease "pathologic" abdominal fat, and therefore may be prescribed for diabetics with central obesity.[40]
Sit-ups myth
There is a common misconception[citation needed] that spot exercise (that is, exercising a specific muscle or location of the body) most effectively burns fat at the desired location, but this is not the case. Spot exercise is beneficial for building specific muscles, but it has little effect,if any, on fat in that area of the body, or on the body's distribution of body fat. The same logic applies to sit-ups and belly fat. Sit-ups, crunches and other abdominal exercises are useful in building the abdominal muscles, but they have little effect,if any, on the adipose tissue located there.[41]
Slang terms
Several colloquial terms used to refer to central obesity, and to people who have it, refer to beer drinking. However, there is little scientific evidence that beer drinkers are more prone to abdominal obesity, despite it being known colloquially as "beer belly", "beer gut", or "beer pot". One of the few studies conducted on the subject did not find that beer drinkers are more prone to abdominal obesity than nondrinkers or drinkers of wine or spirits.[42][43] Chronic alcoholism can lead to cirrhosis, symptoms of which include gynecomastia (enlarged breasts) and ascites (abdominal fluid). These symptoms can suggest the appearance of central obesity.
"Love handles" and "spare tire" are colloquial terms for a layer of fat that is deposited around a person's midsection, especially visible on the sides over the abdominal external oblique muscle.
"Muffin top" is a pejorative term used for a person whose midsection "fupa" over the waistline of his or her trousers in a manner that resembles the top of a muffin spilling over its baking pan.
This condition is also known as "Dunlops Disease" because your belly "done lops over your belt". Further to this, and in advanced stages of the condition, it is also known as "dickdo" as it is said one's "... gut hangs lower than yer dick do[es]." In middle aged men, it is known as "Furniture Disease" because "Your chest has fallen into your drawers".
See also
- Bariatrics, the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity
- Abdominal exercise
- General fitness training
- Healthy diet
- Intentional weight loss
- Physical fitness
- Obesity
- Sagittal Abdominal Diameter (SAD), a measure of Visceral Obesity
- Steatosis, also called fatty change, fatty degeneration or adipose degeneration
- Lipoatrophy, the term describing the localized loss of fat tissue
- Lipodystrophy, a medical condition characterized by abnormal or degenerative conditions of the body's adipose tissue
- Body volume index, an alternative to the Body Mass Index (BMI)
References
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(help) - ^ Researchers think that the lack of estrogen at menopause play a role in driving our fat northward [3]
- ^ Abdominal fat and what to do about it
- ^ Christian Finn, M.Sc. "The Best Way To Lose Belly Fat". thefactsaboutfitness.com. Retrieved 2010-04-08.
There's a growing body of research to show that the fastest way to lose abdominal fat is with a combination of resistance training and aerobic exercise.
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- ^ Michael Jensen, M.D. (2007-01-19). "Belly fat in men: What you need to know". Mayoclinic.com. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
Sit-ups will make your abdominal muscles stronger, sure. And, you may look thinner by building your abdominal muscles because you can hold in your belly fat better. But strengthening your stomach muscles alone will not specifically reduce belly fat.
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at position 70 (help) - ^ Bobak M, Skodova Z, Marmot M. Beer and obesity: a cross-sectional study. Eur J Clin Nutr 2003;57:1250–3.
- ^ Staff writer (2003-10-12). "Why the beer belly may be a myth". BBC News.
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