Is Tummy Fat An Issue For You?

     We live in a world that worships and reveres the abdominal six pack yet increasing numbers of people are watching their once svelte abs disappear beneath body fat. Yet there is way more to a protruding tummy than just a touch too much over eating.

The concern here is not just about appearance but far more serious issues. The rounded, apple shaped abdomen is damaging to health and longevity. Of all the body fat to be saddled with fat on the abdomen has the greatest potential to kill. When fat settles in large amounts here, rather than on the limbs, it is an outwardly visual sign of hormonal and metabolic turmoil within.

Apple abdomens are not solely the results of too much food and not enough exercise. To understand how abdominal fat forms - and what to do about it - we need to pay special attention to two hormones in particular: insulin and cortisol.

Once abdominal fat has increased to a hard rounded appearance, it is almost guaranteed that metabolic imbalance is driving its growth. In particular, it is generally due to resistance to the effects of the blood sugar regulating hormone insulin.

A high carbohydrate (sugars and flour) intake bombards the receptors, which gradually become less and less responsive. As more and more receptors shut down, the body needs to pump out increasing amounts of insulin, just to move the glucose into its cells. This is the increasingly common phenomenon of insulin resistance, which is the precursor of Type II diabetes, a disease reaching epidemic proportions.

The other key hormone involved in laying down fat on your once rippling abs is cortisol. This is a stress hormone produced whenever you are faced with acute or chronic stress. Your body prepares itself to either fight the perceived danger, or flee - this is called the 'fight or flight response'. Both cortisol and adrenaline prepare you for either action by increasing blood pressure and heart rate, making your blood stickier, and slowing down your digestion and immunity systems.

While these changes are designed to keep you alive in the face of danger, the world we live in today is beset with chronic stress, as opposed to the once acute stress our ancestors faced while trying to flee predators. We sit in traffic jams, answer 100 emails a day, worry about losing our jobs and paying the mortgage, and all the while cortisol is pumped into our veins.

Over time, living with chronically elevated blood cortisol leads to blood sugar problems, immune suppression, heart disease, bone loss, fatigue, and an apple-shaped abdomen.

Fast forward - There is no way to escape proper exercise that includes mostly strength training exercise if you are serious about banishing abdominal fat. As your muscles are where fat is burned keeping them in good condition with proper exercise is crucial to improve sensitivity to insulin, lower your blood sugar levels, and decrease body fat.

A properly balanced nutrition plan is the other critical factor to reduce abdominal fat.

Banish simple carbohydrates such as refined grains, processed snack foods, white bread and sugars. Instead choose slow-release carbohydrates that will not cause blood sugar spikes and resulting high insulin levels. These include vegetables, whole grains, lentils, beans and brown rice. Make sure you eat at least 20 grams of protein at each of 5-7 small meals each day.

These two things (your proper exercise program and nutrition plan) will work together to restore your health and return your waistline to how it should be - under 38 inches for a man and under 35 inches for a women to be out of the danger zone.

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