Why does fat accumulate on the stomach? Why fat is formed: simply about a complex process

Many men believe that a small belly is an adornment to them. In women, the presence of a “belly” causes constant stress. This attitude towards “strategic” fat reserves is fundamentally wrong. The question of how to quickly burn belly fat should be of greater interest to men. And that's why.

The dangers of excess fat

In a woman's body, the accumulation of belly fat is due to physiology. As we enter childbearing age, our body strives to create ideally comfortable conditions for future children during their intrauterine development. And for this you need the same fat that provides the baby with warmth and protection. In this case, the fat layer is formed in the subcutaneous space. To estimate its volume, just grab the protruding fold on your stomach with your hand.

For men the situation is different. In them, fat accumulation occurs around the internal organs, causing a radical restructuring of body systems. This fat, called abdominal fat, is hormonally active and increases the need for food, which stimulates even greater growth, compression of internal organs, and disruption of their functioning.

According to doctors, men with a belly of 94 cm or more should worry about how to remove fat from the lower abdomen. In this case, every extra cm on the waist takes away a whole year of their life. For women, not everything is so critical, but you need to become interested in the question of how to remove fat from the stomach if your waist exceeds 80 cm. After this, you should pull yourself together, answer the main question of why fat is deposited on the stomach, and choose an individual complex to combat him.

Causes of fat

If belly fat occurs, the causes should be sought in different aspects of life.

• Heredity or genetic predisposition. If there are obese people in the family, the question of how to get rid of subcutaneous belly fat should be more pressing. You should protect yourself as much as possible from gaining weight: eat the right foods, devote time to sports.
• Stress. Nervous excitement and anxiety cause an increase in appetite. We often strive to “eat away” problems, because in a state of satiety our body feels more comfortable. Instead of overeating, you should calm down and relieve stress while jogging or in the gym.
• Hormonal disbalance. If there is a hormonal disorder in the body, the question of how to remove fat from the lower abdomen cannot be solved on your own. If you gain weight rapidly, you should visit an endocrinologist and take the recommended tests.
• Menopause. During this period, hormonal changes in the body and the process of redistribution of fat cells are observed. The most “greedy” of them rush to the lower abdomen, so after the age of 45, women should be especially careful about their diet and regularly perform exercises to burn belly fat.

How to fight fat

So, if the problem of how to remove excess belly fat is relevant to you, following the following recommendations will help.

Get active!

If you don't want your belly to hang over your pants, reconsider your lifestyle. On the weekend, find a couple of free hours and go for a bike ride with your family. Visit the pool twice during the week. You will be surprised how much your life will change, how much better you will feel. And the problem of how to remove fat from the stomach and sides will fade into the tenth plan!

Buy a hula hoop

A wide hoop with massage balls will help you effectively deal with fat deposits. By breaking and massaging them, it will help remove fat from the body, tone the abdominal muscles, and make it fit and attractive.

Eat right

You don’t need to give up sweets completely, but you should reduce your sugar intake. Eliminate fried and fatty foods from your diet, include vegetables and fruits, try to consume most of them without heat treatment. There are also foods that burn belly fat. This includes ginger, which increases the intensity of metabolism, preventing fat from settling in the cells. Herbal teas with chamomile, lemon, fennel mint are useful, as well as all fermented milk products that improve digestion and remove accumulated toxins from the body.

Drink clean water

Proper drinking regimen is the most important aspect for solving the problem of how to remove belly fat quickly. Without daily 1.5-2 liters of pure still water, you will not achieve the expected effect. Drink at least 8 glasses of water throughout the day.

Train your body

Your daily workout routine should include the following exercises.

1. “Bicycle” - slowly rotate your legs raised above the floor. Bend your knee well, pulling it towards your chest, and straighten the other one completely.
2. Vertical scissors- lift your legs one by one 90 degrees above the floor.
3. Crunches - Lie on the floor as if you were planning to do a push-up, placing your hands and feet on the floor. Pull one leg with your knee to your chest, straighten it, and pull up the other.
4. Seated crunches- sit down and place your hands on the floor behind you. Bend your straight legs sharply and pull them towards your chest with the strength of your abdominal muscles, straighten them.
5. Crunches on a chair- sit down on the edge, pull your knees to your chest, straighten your legs. Work your abdominal muscles, not your legs.

The number of exercises is at least 20 times. Between each of them, perform 10 active jumps.

Indeed, there may be at least seven of them, or even more. However, you should try to get rid of belly fat first. It's not just about aesthetics: insulin resistance and diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and early mortality - the likelihood of all increases in proportion to waist size.

1. You're getting older

Over the years, as you know, metabolism changes: it becomes more and more difficult for the body to burn and more and more easier to store energy. The peak of this problem occurs during menopause, when estrogen and progesterone levels drop. In this sense, of course, there is no need to skimp on replacement therapy. Testosterone levels in men also fall, just more slowly. And it can also be corrected, at least in part, with the help of the same physical activity.

2. You have hormonal imbalances

Endocrine changes can occur at any age and for a variety of reasons. For example, with polycystic ovary syndrome, women may have increased testosterone, and this makes it difficult to lose weight, even if you eat right. It is impossible to do without the help of a doctor, and not a nutritionist, but an endocrinologist. It is important to understand that even overeating is not promiscuity; behind it there are often not only psychological, but basic physiological disorders. Robert Lustig in his lectures often gives examples of children who immediately gained weight after brain injuries or, conversely, returned to normal shape after restoring the normal functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary system and all the endocrine glands subordinate to it.

3. You eat too much processed food

Refined flour, as in white bread, crackers, chips, sugar and sweet drinks, desserts - all stimulate inflammation. And visceral fat is associated with inflammation, so such foods make it difficult to fight belly fat. Well, in general, it’s not difficult to guess that any carbohydrates quickly turn into visceral fat if you eat too much. The more you eat fresh and whole foods, the more effort your body works to extract nutrients from them. The more food is industrially processed, the faster blood sugar levels rise, and this, as we know, is where all the problems begin.

4. You're not getting enough sleep

About a third of Americans sleep less than six hours. It is likely that the obesity epidemic is at least partly explained by this. The study, which lasted 16 years, found that those who slept five hours or less were 30 percent or more likely to gain weight than those who slept more than seven hours. And this weight, first of all, accumulates on the stomach. It is also known that those who work night shifts or daily shifts are more likely to be overweight. The fact is that the hormones that control sleep and wakefulness are also closely related to the feeling of hunger and satiety. So getting enough sleep is the key to being slim.

5. You're unlucky with your genetics.

Where you store fat—on your hips and shoulders or your belly—depends on your genetics. At the same time, subcutaneous fat, which accumulates in the arms and legs, is completely harmless to health, but visceral fat can be deadly.

6. You're not training correctly.

Jogging or cycling, as well as group cycling classes, are very good for the heart, but cardio exercise itself has little effect on waist size. You should always combine strength training and cardio to lose belly fat, because strength training increases muscle mass, which is exactly what is needed to burn fat more effectively. Simply because muscle tissue spends a lot of energy helping to burn excess fat, it makes sense to build it up.

7. No habit or self-control

Losing weight is a habit, like everything else in life. As soon as you instill healthy habits in yourself and break harmful stereotypes, losing weight seems to happen on its own. The hardest thing to deal with is the transition period. We must understand that habits are automatisms that are deposited at the level of neural arches. Simply put, you really have to break your own brain to change. And this process is never simple. However, nothing is impossible about it. And it will be easier to do this if you understand that it is only difficult at the beginning. If you loved sweets, but decided to give it up, know that the first day will be a thousand times harder than the tenth. Moreover, even if you relapsed and swallowed carbohydrates again, this is not a reason to give up. The more attempts, the greater the chance that the next attempt will be more successful than the previous one. Actually, this applies not only to food, but also to fitness, alcohol, smoking and anything else. There is no ideal. There are no tasks that you have completed or not - there is only a process, and it goes on until you abandon it. And this process is useful, even if it is uneven.

Many people are interested in the question of why fat can be deposited on the stomach and sides. More often, the reason lies in poor diet and sedentary lifestyle. In 80% of cases, this is a problem area for women with an “apple” body type, but men are also susceptible to fat growth in this area. Let's consider the most popular causes and methods of struggle.

The most common causes of flank fat are:

1. Poor nutrition. Consumption of fast food, quick snacks instead of full meals, and an excess of carbohydrates contribute to the accumulation of abdominal fat on the body. As a result, metabolism slows down, the stomach stretches, which leads to stagnation of excess weight. How to solve this problem? Research by nutritionists has shown that split meals are considered the optimal method of losing weight. You should consume 5-6 small palm-sized portions during the day. Food should be healthy and low-calorie. It is recommended to eat carbohydrate foods in the morning, and proteins with fiber in the evening.
2. Excess of waste and toxins. This is influenced by bad habits such as alcohol and smoking. And taking oral contraceptives and other hormonal drugs slows down the excretion of fat.
3. Sedentary lifestyle. To get rid of fat, you need to create a calorie deficit. Hiking, swimming pool, fitness and aerobics will help with this.
4. Pregnancy and childbirth. During the period of bearing a child, a woman's hormonal levels change, as a result of which after childbirth fat appears on the abdomen, and the skin becomes loose. If there are no complications, it goes away within six months.

Differences between saving in men and women

Men and women have their own anatomical characteristics. Representatives of the stronger half find it easier to gain muscle mass, and they have significantly less body fat. This is provided by nature. A woman is carrying a child, which means she needs a fat layer in order to protect herself and the fetus from the cold.

In the stronger half, deposits almost never appear in the arms, legs and hips; fat is more often deposited on the stomach and chest area.

In women, the fat layer accumulates depending on the type of figure:

1. “Bullseye” (no waist, narrow hips, neat and round buttocks) – deposits are visible on the stomach and sides.
2. “Pear” (small breasts, clearly defined waist, the lower part significantly predominates over the upper) – fat appears unevenly, most often in the hips and buttocks.
3. “Hourglass” (the upper part of the body is proportional to the lower) - fat is deposited evenly on the sides, hips, arms and tummy. With this type, a woman may not notice the extra pounds for a long time until she reaches a critical condition.

Fat in men is deposited only on the stomach and above. If the waist circumference exceeds 95 cm, then 1 degree of obesity is diagnosed. Their adipose tissue is distributed in the form of a triangle on the upper part of the body (chest, abdomen, sides, neck, chin).

It is more difficult for girls to lose weight and gain muscle mass due to the hormone estrogen, which is practically absent in the male body.

Features of abdominal fat

Abdominal fat is most often localized in the abdomen and sides. The layer accumulates around the internal organs, making it difficult to remove.

The formation of abdominal fat can be detected using the ratio of waist to hip circumference. In men, the WC/TB ratio exceeds 1, and in women it is 0.85 with excess accumulations.

Subcutaneous fat is dangerous because it causes serious complications. These include diabetes, slow metabolism, high blood pressure, and dysfunction of lipid metabolism.

Rules to reduce your waist

Remember that strict diets and fasting give only temporary effects. After some time, the weight may return in double volume.

1. Add some physical activity. The fastest way to burn fat is by combining strength training with aerobic exercise. Any physical activity that will help burn calories and remove a soft belly is also suitable. Try walking up the stairs instead of the elevator, walking more in the fresh air and doing breathing exercises. Running, swimming and jumping rope are great for losing weight.
2. Don't neglect home wraps and massages. A hot bath with sea salt and soda 2 times a week is perfect against cellulite. After it, it is advisable to smear the stomach with honey or homemade scrub and wrap it with cling film for 20 minutes.
3. Buy a hoop. This is the best exercise machine for shaping your waist if you have a little fat on your sides. Results are visible after just a month of use. The main thing is to devote 15-20 minutes a day to it. Changes appear within 2 weeks.
4. Do the exercises at home. Any abdominal exercises are suitable if there are no spinal diseases. To reduce body fat, you need to increase the number of repetitions per set and reduce rest time. The break should not exceed 30-40 seconds. From the sides, side bends and oblique twists are suitable.

Don't trust cheap glossy magazines. It is impossible to achieve an ideal figure in 2-3 months. To get visible results, you need to adhere to proper nutrition and exercise regimen for a year. In the future, you also need to try to lead a healthy lifestyle if you want to maintain the results.

Very often, a couple of kilograms gained are deposited in the form of belly fat. Many people perceive an enlarged waist simply as a lack of figure, but these fat deposits can be a symptom of a number of diseases. We will tell you how to recognize the danger and what fats can be deposited in the abdominal area.

Fat in the human body

Adipose tissue in the human body should be at least 11% (normally 15-20%) for men and 16% (normally 15-20%) for women. Fats perform a number of important functions, without which our body could not fully exist. First of all, we are talking about a reserve of energy that can be spent in critical situations. Adipose tissue is also responsible for metabolic processes in the body and the production of hormones, and protects the body from cold.

It is customary to distinguish two main types of adipose tissue:

• Subcutaneous fat layer. It is found in all anatomical parts of the body, but at the same time it has a different thickness in each of them. In a non-obese person, it is distributed relatively evenly. Excess weight can change the shape of the figure - the subcutaneous fat layer increases on the hips, legs, abdomen, sometimes shoulders and neck.
• Visceral (internal) fat. It surrounds the organs; almost its entire supply is located in the abdominal cavity.

Both types of fat play a role in the human body, and thinning them too much can lead to dangerous diseases. In particular, visceral fat ensures the correct positioning of organs and protects them from possible injury. However, too intense growth of such layers requires mandatory fat burning, since it also significantly harms health.

Why is it that even with a slight weight gain, it is the stomach that begins to grow first? The fact is that belly fat is deposited in two forms at once: as a subcutaneous fat layer, which is quite pronounced here, and in the form of visceral accumulations.

Moreover, since the total percentage of fatty tissue in the body changes with age (the older a person is, the more it will be), from about 40 years of age, belly fat can appear in fairly thin people. In this case, we will talk specifically about the accumulation of internal fat.

Abdominal obesity (with a noticeable increase in volume in the abdominal cavity) is typical for men and women. Doctors often associate this type of obesity with hereditary metabolic disorders or a predisposition to endocrine diseases.

Belly fat and disease

Belly fat poses a real health hazard if your waist size exceeds:

• 80-85 cm for women.
• 90-94 cm for men.

If the indicators are greater than the given parameters, abdominal obesity may be a sign of dangerous metabolic syndrome. In this case, burning fat is no longer just an aesthetic task, but becomes a medical one. This is due to the fact that with waist measurements exceeding the indicated figures, we can confidently talk about an excess of visceral fat. And this greatly interferes with the internal organs’ ability to function fully. Due to their compression, the following complications may occur:

• Inflammatory processes.
• Impaired functioning, including patency, of the gastrointestinal tract.
• Diseases of the stomach, bladder, liver and other organs.

However, visceral fats pose the greatest danger to the cardiovascular system. Metabolic syndrome also includes:

• An increase in “bad” cholesterol and the development of vascular atherosclerosis.
• Persistent arterial hypertension.
• Increased blood sugar levels, developing insulin resistance (cell resistance to insulin).

All these factors significantly increase the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and chronic heart failure. People with metabolic syndrome also often develop type 2 diabetes.

Recent studies have shown that visceral fats can affect brain function, in particular, aggravate or accelerate the development of dementia. The increased likelihood of strokes often leads to multiple micro-strokes, which a person may not even notice. However, with each such attack, some brain cells die, and multi-infarct dementia develops.

Abdominal obesity can also affect the functioning of the endocrine system. In particular, very often belly fat becomes the cause of hormonal imbalances - thyroid hormones and sex hormones are produced in insufficient quantities. This can lead to sexual dysfunction and infertility.

As a rule, burning fat in the abdominal area poses the greatest problem. Therefore, when diagnosed with abdominal obesity, it is necessary to approach weight loss comprehensively. First of all, nutrition changes. The following should be excluded from the diet:

• Products containing trans fats - fast food, processed foods, snacks, etc.
• Fast carbohydrates - sugar, pastries, pasta, white bread, sweet carbonated water.
• Alcohol, including low-alcohol drinks. Beer should be completely prohibited.
• Fatty meats, lard, lard.
• Fried food.

The diet should be dominated by:

• Fresh vegetables. It is possible to dress the salad with a small amount of vegetable oil.
• Porridge, preferably cooked in water. White rice should be excluded as it is a fast carbohydrate.
• Bird. At the same time, cut off all visible fat and cook without skin.
• Fish. It is advisable to bake or stew without adding oil.

It is also very important to drink enough pure water as it speeds up your metabolism and will help you lose belly fat faster. It is better to replace tea and coffee with herbal infusions, rosehip decoction or dried fruit compote without added sugar.

Effective burning of belly fat is impossible without physical activity. Since excessive growth of the visceral layer is associated with a slowdown in metabolism, when choosing a sport it is important to give preference to those types that help speed up metabolism:

• Aerobics.
• Badminton.
• Basketball, volleyball.
• Dancing.

In order to start burning fat, exercise should last at least 25 minutes, but you should not train for more than an hour. Regularity is also important - 3-5 times a week. If, along with abdominal obesity, other signs of metabolic syndrome are observed, in particular, high blood pressure, you should be examined by a cardiologist before choosing the type of exercise.

Belly fat is a perennial problem for women. And where does it come from? Or maybe it's okay? After all, in the East they believe that a woman without a belly is not a woman. Maybe, really, wow, this flat tummy?

Of course, there is no arguing about tastes. However, if we talk about the aesthetic side of the issue, then opinions may differ. When it comes to health, there can be no two opinions: belly fat and health are incompatible things. If you have a problem with belly fat, then you will inevitably have health problems. Let's consider this issue in more detail.

What is the threat to health from extra centimeters around the waist?

They are the cause of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and obesity. Or rather, not the fat itself, but the metabolic disorder to which it leads, the so-called metabolic syndrome (deadly quartet). Fat acts in such a way that tissue sensitivity to insulin decreases. As for the hormones produced by the body, fat accumulates them. As a result, the person gets sick.

Thus, fat in the abdominal area literally envelops all internal organs, filling the space between them. Belly fat can cause many forms of cancer. You need to know that a large belly can signal you about the accumulation of fluid in the body. As a rule, the cause of this disease is diseased kidneys or heart failure. It is worth noting that fat, accumulating in the abdominal cavity, can also cause dysfunction of the sex glands. And that's not all! As you can see, extra centimeters around the waist are big health problems

Now let’s try to understand the reasons for the appearance of belly fat. It is reasonable to note that when we consume an excessive amount of calories, they are inevitably stored as fat.

In other words, overeating leads to obesity.

Belly fat is also an indispensable component of a sedentary lifestyle.

The next reason is stress. If your life is replete with them, then this will not fail to manifest itself in the form of extra centimeters around the waist. The thing is that under stress, our body begins to produce a special hormone - cortisol. This hormone causes the body to begin storing fat. Where is the exit? Stop worrying about trifles! Every time you have a reason to worry, think about your waist...
- Another point is that the formation of fat in the abdominal cavity can be caused by digestive disorders. If there is no regular bowel movement, feces will inevitably accumulate in it. As a result, the level of toxins increases, which penetrate the intestinal walls into the body. As a result, the body begins to build up fatty tissue around the intestines to protect the body from toxins. Thus, the formation of fat around the waist can signal serious digestive problems...

What to do?

Let's try to decide what to do about the reasons for the appearance of extra centimeters around the waist.

• What to do about overeating? Overeating usually occurs due to an unbalanced diet. Follow a daily routine, eat according to the time of day, make your choice in favor of foods rich in fiber, and give up simple carbohydrates and fats. Give preference to foods with a low glycemic index. Stop eating at night! Food eaten after sunset is not digested, but poisons the body. A balanced diet is the key to solving digestive problems and restoring the body’s natural self-cleansing.

• Watch your gut! Without a doubt, as soon as you put your diet in order, your digestion will return to normal. Drink more water! You need to drink about two liters a day! Do not forget that water is the main participant in metabolism in the body. A modern approach to the issue of burning belly fat allows you to include special fat burning accelerators in the recovery program.

• Well, be sure to exercise regularly! Very good for belly fat