Dangers of Belly Fat

When you take a firm decision to shed some extra kilos of your belly fat, you are doing yourself many favors. While you will be overjoyed to fit in your favorite tight jeans, after losing the excess fat, this is just one tangible benefit of letting some fat disappear from your belly.

The most intangible benefit will be that you will become the master of your health. You will enhance your general feeling of well-being, at the same time decreasing the chances of some life-threatening diseases. Issues related to belly fat, be it in men or women, are equally scary.

Belly fat, according to health experts indicates many things about the general health of a person. Your waist size can directly tell how healthy you are and about some diseases, you may probably contract, if the fat is not lost soon.

For a long time, Body Mass Index (BMI) has been regarded to be the best health indicator. Knowing your weight and height can help you to calculate your BMI. The value of BMI determines, if you are an underweight, overweight or an obese person. Medical evaluations measure BMI of the patient as it is customary to do so.

BMI although, is used as a general body fat indicator, it is not one of the most accurate estimates. To overcome limitations of BMI, scientists have been trying to consider belly fat measure as a indicator of health. To measure belly fat, the hip to waist ratio is calculated.

Your overall health can be easily predicted if your waist to hip ratio is known. If you are a female, ideally your waist-hip ratio must be below 0.85 and for males, it is healthy, if it is below 0.90.

Our body is made up, among others, of billions of fat cells that are in a way necessary for body's functioning. However, when there is excess of body fat, it gives way to many diseases. In body parts, like the chest, arms, thighs, stomach and buttocks, there is always a high concentration of fatty tissues.

The fatty or adipose tissues are composed roughly of 80% of fat. Adipose tissue basically are found in our body at two places, under the skin (called subcutaneous fats) and around organs like stomach, liver, abdomen (called visceral fats). Fatty tissues in areas like buttocks and thighs consist of subcutaneous fats and are not very harmful.

Excess of fat in abdominal area is however considered the most risky for a health body. This is because abdominal fats, or visceral fats, that are piled in between organs like stomach, liver, intestines, kidneys are "metabolically active". They secrete harmful fatty acids in the body triggering the risk of multiple diseases. Some of them are as follows.

Men and women having excess body fat in the abdominal area are at a higher risk of colon, kidney and breast cancer. Breast cancer, particularly in women, has been associated with obesity and several medical studies are conforming that obesity can be a risk factor for breast cancer.

Kidneys and liver both can experience complications because the toxins secreted by the visceral fat (fat in abdominal area is known as visceral fat), negatively impacts the general health of these organs.

Excess belly fat leads to increased risk of diabetes, one of the most dangerous diseases for the human body. Fat in the belly leads to secretion of fatty acids that hampers the ability of our body to use insulin hormone properly.

Fatness is known to be directly related to trigger the risk of variety of heart diseases. This includes, but is not limited to, high blood pressure and reduction in HDL or good cholesterol levels. It has been proved through several medical studies that belly fat and cortisone hormone secretions are interrelated.

Cortisone is a hormone that is released by adrenal glands when our body experiences any sort of physical, mental or emotional stress. When we experience stress, cortisone triggers brains cells to guide body cells to store fats for gaining energy.

If cortisone levels are high in the body due to continual stress, these fats are stored in the belly, leading to excess belly fat. This is the reason why you will find stress and weight gain closely related.

As you can see, the health complications that may arise due to the presence of excess weight in the belly area are quite serious and if not controlled in time, they can take a serious toll on the health of the person. Nevertheless, there is nothing that can't be achieved with determination and right guidance. Pull up your socks to lose extra fat! You can do it, if you really want to do it. Just keep the future options in mind: a figure you desire, healthy body and stress free life! Stay healthy!