So when did it turn from "baby fat" to “middle age spread” and should I be concerned?
As women go through their middle years, their proportion of fat to body weight tends to increase - more than it does in men. At menopause, extra pounds tend to park themselves around the midsection, as the ratio of fat to lean tissue shifts even women who don’t actually gain weight may still gain inches at the waist. Be aware that as our waistline grows, so do our health risks. Lucky us!
Abdominal, or visceral, fat is of particular concern because it’s a key player in a variety of health problems - much more than subcutaneous fat, the kind you can grasp with your hand. Visceral fat lies deep within the abdominal cavity, where it pads the spaces between our abdominal organs. Visceral fat has been linked to certain metabolic disturbances and increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. In women it is also associated with breast cancer and in some the need for gallbladder surgery.
Fat accumulated in the lower body (pear shaped) is subcutaneous, while fat in the abdominal area (apple shaped) is largely visceral. Where a woman’s fat ends up is influenced by several factors. Heredity is one: genes determine how many fats cells an individual develops and where these cells are stored. Hormones are another: at menopause, estrogen production decreases and the ratio of androgen (male hormones present in small amounts in women) to estrogen increases - a shift that’s been linked in some studies to increased abdominal fat after menopause. Some researchers suspect that the drop in estrogen levels at menopause is also linked to increased levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that promotes the accumulation of abdominal fat. As the evidence against fat mounts, researchers and clinicians are trying to measure it, correlate it with health risks, and monitor changes that occur with age and overall weight gain or loss.
The good news is that visceral fat yields fairly easily to exercise and diet, with benefits ranging from lower blood pressure to more favorable cholesterol levels. Subcutaneous fat located at the waist - the pinch-able stuff can be frustratingly difficult to budge, but in normal-weight people, it’s generally not considered as much of a health threat as visceral fat is.
What’s wrong with a little abdominal fat?
Body fat, or adipose tissue, was once regarded as little more than a storage depot for fat cells waiting to be used for energy. But research shows that fat cells are biologically active. Therefore, it is more accurate to think of fat as an endocrine organ or gland, producing hormones and other substances that can profoundly affect our health. One such hormone is leptin, which is normally released after a meal and dampens appetite. Fat cells also produce the hormone adiponectin, which is thought to influence the response of cells to insulin. With this research it is becoming clear that excess body fat disrupts the normal balance and functioning of these hormones.
One reason excess visceral fat is so harmful could be its location near the portal vein, which carries blood from the intestinal area to the liver. Substances released by visceral fat, including free fatty acids, enter the portal vein and travel to the liver, where they can influence the production of blood lipids. Visceral fat is directly linked with higher total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol, lower HDL (good) cholesterol, and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance means that your body’s muscle and liver cells don’t respond adequately to normal levels of insulin, the pancreatic hormone that carries glucose into the body’s cells. Glucose levels in the blood rise, heightening the risk for diabetes. Together, insulin resistance, high blood glucose, excess abdominal fat, unfavorable cholesterol levels (including high levels of triglycerides), and high blood pressure constitute the metabolic syndrome, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
So what can be done to decrease our fat stores?
The starting point is regular moderate intensity physical activity - at least 30 minutes per day (truthfully we should be saying 60 minutes per day) to control weight. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that the non-exerciser experiences a nearly 8% gain in visceral fat after 6 months. So subjects who exercised the equivalent of walking or jogging 12 miles per week put on no visceral fat, and those who exercised the equivalent of jogging 20 miles per week lost both visceral and subcutaneous fat.
Strength training also helps fight or shed abdominal fat. The University of Pennsylvania did a study on women, ages 24-44, for 2 years. Participants that were given an hour of weight training twice a week reduced their proportion of body fat by nearly 4% and were more successful in keeping off visceral fat. Spot or target exercising, such as doing sit-ups, can tighten the abdominal muscles, but it won’t get at visceral fat.
Diet is also important. Pay attention to portion size, and emphasize complex carbohydrates (fruits, whole grains and vegetables) and lean protein over simple carbohydrates such as white bread, refined pasta, and sugary drinks. Cutting calories drastically is not a good diet strategy, because it forces the body into starvation mode, slows metabolism and paradoxically causes it to store fat more efficiently later on. Because levels of the hormone DHEA decline with age, many people believe that DHEA supplement can reverse the age-related gain of abdominal fat. Although DHEA is converted in the body to testosterone and estrogen that help regulate various functions, studies have showed that it has no effect on age markers.
Lifestyle, Diet and Exercise
Experts concur that diet and exercise are the best ways to fight visceral fat. Even the smallest changes in your lifestyle diet and exercise programs can reap big rewards. Start today. Eat smaller portions, move a little more and breathe a little deeper. You will start to feel and look better before you know it.
As women go through their middle years, their proportion of fat to body weight tends to increase - more than it does in men. At menopause, extra pounds tend to park themselves around the midsection, as the ratio of fat to lean tissue shifts even women who don’t actually gain weight may still gain inches at the waist. Be aware that as our waistline grows, so do our health risks. Lucky us!
Abdominal, or visceral, fat is of particular concern because it’s a key player in a variety of health problems - much more than subcutaneous fat, the kind you can grasp with your hand. Visceral fat lies deep within the abdominal cavity, where it pads the spaces between our abdominal organs. Visceral fat has been linked to certain metabolic disturbances and increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. In women it is also associated with breast cancer and in some the need for gallbladder surgery.
Fat accumulated in the lower body (pear shaped) is subcutaneous, while fat in the abdominal area (apple shaped) is largely visceral. Where a woman’s fat ends up is influenced by several factors. Heredity is one: genes determine how many fats cells an individual develops and where these cells are stored. Hormones are another: at menopause, estrogen production decreases and the ratio of androgen (male hormones present in small amounts in women) to estrogen increases - a shift that’s been linked in some studies to increased abdominal fat after menopause. Some researchers suspect that the drop in estrogen levels at menopause is also linked to increased levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that promotes the accumulation of abdominal fat. As the evidence against fat mounts, researchers and clinicians are trying to measure it, correlate it with health risks, and monitor changes that occur with age and overall weight gain or loss.
The good news is that visceral fat yields fairly easily to exercise and diet, with benefits ranging from lower blood pressure to more favorable cholesterol levels. Subcutaneous fat located at the waist - the pinch-able stuff can be frustratingly difficult to budge, but in normal-weight people, it’s generally not considered as much of a health threat as visceral fat is.
What’s wrong with a little abdominal fat?
Body fat, or adipose tissue, was once regarded as little more than a storage depot for fat cells waiting to be used for energy. But research shows that fat cells are biologically active. Therefore, it is more accurate to think of fat as an endocrine organ or gland, producing hormones and other substances that can profoundly affect our health. One such hormone is leptin, which is normally released after a meal and dampens appetite. Fat cells also produce the hormone adiponectin, which is thought to influence the response of cells to insulin. With this research it is becoming clear that excess body fat disrupts the normal balance and functioning of these hormones.
One reason excess visceral fat is so harmful could be its location near the portal vein, which carries blood from the intestinal area to the liver. Substances released by visceral fat, including free fatty acids, enter the portal vein and travel to the liver, where they can influence the production of blood lipids. Visceral fat is directly linked with higher total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol, lower HDL (good) cholesterol, and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance means that your body’s muscle and liver cells don’t respond adequately to normal levels of insulin, the pancreatic hormone that carries glucose into the body’s cells. Glucose levels in the blood rise, heightening the risk for diabetes. Together, insulin resistance, high blood glucose, excess abdominal fat, unfavorable cholesterol levels (including high levels of triglycerides), and high blood pressure constitute the metabolic syndrome, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
So what can be done to decrease our fat stores?
The starting point is regular moderate intensity physical activity - at least 30 minutes per day (truthfully we should be saying 60 minutes per day) to control weight. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that the non-exerciser experiences a nearly 8% gain in visceral fat after 6 months. So subjects who exercised the equivalent of walking or jogging 12 miles per week put on no visceral fat, and those who exercised the equivalent of jogging 20 miles per week lost both visceral and subcutaneous fat.
Strength training also helps fight or shed abdominal fat. The University of Pennsylvania did a study on women, ages 24-44, for 2 years. Participants that were given an hour of weight training twice a week reduced their proportion of body fat by nearly 4% and were more successful in keeping off visceral fat. Spot or target exercising, such as doing sit-ups, can tighten the abdominal muscles, but it won’t get at visceral fat.
Diet is also important. Pay attention to portion size, and emphasize complex carbohydrates (fruits, whole grains and vegetables) and lean protein over simple carbohydrates such as white bread, refined pasta, and sugary drinks. Cutting calories drastically is not a good diet strategy, because it forces the body into starvation mode, slows metabolism and paradoxically causes it to store fat more efficiently later on. Because levels of the hormone DHEA decline with age, many people believe that DHEA supplement can reverse the age-related gain of abdominal fat. Although DHEA is converted in the body to testosterone and estrogen that help regulate various functions, studies have showed that it has no effect on age markers.
Lifestyle, Diet and Exercise
Experts concur that diet and exercise are the best ways to fight visceral fat. Even the smallest changes in your lifestyle diet and exercise programs can reap big rewards. Start today. Eat smaller portions, move a little more and breathe a little deeper. You will start to feel and look better before you know it.
In Health,
W
W
1 comment:
great job wendy! can't wait for the next one.is this article true for men also?
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