What's Your Risk of Belly Fat Related Health Problems

Just read another article on why a big belly doesn't bode well in surviving heart problems and other related diseases.  I've written several posts about  weight vs waist size on this blog and Myrnas List about the big belly problem.  Your legs, arms and any other part of your body can have fat but not your waist or belly.  The fat around your belly is called visceral fat.  

In the article by Terri Coles, she writes:

New research shows a direct link between inflammation around deposits of visceral fat, or fat that forms around major organs in the stomach, and atherosclerosis, the process of artery hardening that can lead to blood clots, heart attacks and strokes.

In the meantime, the advice for anyone who wants to reduce their risk of visceral fat-related health problems is the same,  Eitzman said: lose weight through healthy diet and exercise. "With weight loss you're going to lose not only total body weight but also visceral fat," he said. "It's probably the case that weight reduction is going to reduce these inflammatory characteristics of the visceral fat."

That applies not just to people who are overweight or obese, but to anyone who has a high waist-hip circumference ratio. Previous studies have shown that these individuals may also be at risk for health problems like atherosclerosis and diabetes, even if they are at a normal weight. 

"I think that this goes beyond body mass index," Eitzman said, "and there are people that may be classified as even normal weight that are still going to have inflammatory fat."

I'll write more on this subject in future posts, especially how it affects post menopausal women and what they can do to reduce their waist size and this dangerous visceral fat.(tummy fat)

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