Home Health What Causes Belly Fat to Form? – 2024 Guide

What Causes Belly Fat to Form? – 2024 Guide

by Skopje Macedonsko

The one issue that people tend to fight as they get older is the formation of belly fat. Even if you eat the same foods and get plenty of exercises, keeping the pounds off once you get beyond the age of 35 can be a bit of a challenge.

Some people eventually give up on their battle against the bulge, but that outcome doesn’t need to be your destiny. When you understand how belly fat forms, then it is easier to find ways to get rid of it – and keep it off for good.

Two types of belly fat form: visceral and subcutaneous. The first one is the fat that forms around your organs, while the latter is what sits under the skin. The health issues that can develop from visceral fat are what you need to control.

Why Is It Dangerous to Have Belly Fat?

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Being overweight or obese is one of the leading risk factors for several major diseases. When you have too much belly fat, then you are more likely to develop heart attacks, heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, asthma, type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, breast cancer, and several forms of dementia than the general population.

Although people with a normal BMI can develop these health issues and someone with a significant amount of belly fat may not, the risk factors for the general population lean toward the extra weight being a problem.

Knowing what causes fat to form around the abdomen can help you to control habits and choices that lead to this issue.

How Does Belly Fat Start Forming?

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The primary reason why people have excessive fat around their belly involves a poor diet. Sugary foods can cause weight gain, slow metabolism, and reduce a person’s ability to burn fat simultaneously. Foods that have high carbohydrate levels and low protein can contribute to that issue. A diet with high levels of trans fats can cause inflammation, especially when baked goods and fast-food items are dietary staples.

You can also see belly fat start to form when these causes are present in your life.

1. You are drinking too much.

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Consuming more beverages than your body can support can lead to a variety of health issues. Liver disease and whole-body inflammation are the two most common outcomes. Men who drink too much consistently are more likely to gain weight around the abdomen, leading to a significant amount of belly fat formation.

2. You don’t get enough exercise.

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When you consume more calories than your body needs each day, then the extra energy gets stored as fast. If you have an inactive lifestyle, then it is much more difficult to get rid of the excess amount that starts forming around your middle. Even if you can lose weight, the body tends to use other reserves before it starts to touch the visceral fat around the abdomen.

3. You have high-stress levels in your life.

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Cortisol is a hormone in your body that helps it to deal with stress. If you are in a high-pressure situation, then this steroid gets released to help you physically respond to the potential danger. One of the outcomes is an increase in hunger cravings, often leading people to reach for comfort foods. Any extra calories get turned into belly fat that likes to hang around your middle.

4. Your family contributed to a genetic profile that includes belly fat.

A person’s genetics can play a role in whether obesity and belly fat occurs. Your genes can influence metabolism rates, behaviors, and the risk of developing diseases related to being overweight. Your environment and choice patterns can contribute to the likelihood of having a high BMI number regardless of whether your parents or grandparents were also overweight or obese.

5. You don’t get enough sleep.

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When you don’t get enough rest at night, then your body tries to make up for the lack of energy by craving high-calorie, low-density foods. It wants a quick spike in blood sugar so that it can get moving. Having this behavior as part of your daily routine can lead to belly fat formation. You need to get between 7-9 hours of sleep to encourage energy restoration.

6. Hormones

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The hormonal cocktail that leads to obesity is complex. Hence, to think that the human being is governed by the laws of thermodynamics (calories that enter, calories that come out) instead of the laws of biology is reductionist and naive

Thyroid activity, insulin sensitivity, release and sensitivity to both orexigenic hormones such as ghrelin or anorexigenic hormones such as leptin, the testosterone-estrogen ratio or the number of stress hormones are some of the protagonists taking part in al weight regulation.

In general, for hormonal regulation to be optimal, it is enough for us to comply with the previous sections: Eat real food, move and sleep the hours you touch and at night.

The last point is important because another hormonal disrupting factor is to tend to demand digestive processes during daily windows of more than 12 hours. We therefore recommend that you distribute your daily meals in a maximum of 12 hours.

7. Medicines

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Although they are not the main cause of abdominal fat accumulation, some medications can influence fat storage when consumed for a long time.

Medicine that meets the above characters are those prescribed for diabetes, seizures, mood disorders, migraines, high blood pressure, steroids, and birth control pills. They all have a different effect on each person. On the other hand, there is a medicine like Leptitox that aid with weight loss, so make sure to visit here for more information.

The best way to lose belly fat is to improve your diet and get high-quality sleep at night. Then increase your exercise levels while reducing the alcohol beverages you consume to support healthy living.

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