Check Up: How to get rid of belly fat

Dear Readers,

Odette Grantham writes Check Up from a Portmore, St Catherine, address. Now in her 'middle' years, she is concerned about the tummy fat she has gained recently and its implications for poor health outcomes. She asked Check Up to suggest remedies to help loose belly fat.

Everyone has some belly fat, inclusive of the individuals who have flat abdominal walls. This is normal. It is when there is too much abdominal fat present that there is a problem.

Some abdominal fat is stored under the abdominal wall and can easily be determined to be "belly" fat. Even more fat is stored deeper, around organs such as the liver, stomach, heart and lungs. It is this deeper fat, 'visceral' fat, which is highly problematic, especially in obviously overweight individuals, who carry a roll of tummy fat, in older persons, but also some 'slim' people!

Some visceral fat is needed to cushion organs from harm but too much is linked to High blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, dementia, breast and colon cancers.

Once obese, or even just overweight, you are at risk!

Measure your waist circumference at the navel (belly button). If this figure is greater than 35 inches for women, 40 inches for men, you are at risk !

The amount of visceral fat we store can be related to inherited genes, but much more about our lifestyles - how much we eat, what we eat and how physically active we are, how much exercise we participate in each week. Visceral fat likes inactivity! Even slim people who don't exercise are likely to store too much visceral fat.

To control "belly" fat, consider seriously adding or upgrading the following:

• Exercise: Significant exercise will trim all fat, inclusive of belly fat, and the deep visceral fat. Get in at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise, four to five days a week. Walking counts as long as it is at a pace associated with some natural sweat. Even participating in moderate exercise, for 30 minutes, three days a week, will slow down abdominal and visceral fat gain. Do gardening, play a sport, walk around the block or even jog on the spot at home. Do combination weight training and cardiovascular workouts.

• Diet: When you lose weight on any diet, belly fat usually goes first! Increase dietary fibre to better maintain weight. Eat less processed foods, more grains and fruits. Limit fat intake to minimal amounts.

• Sleep: People who sleep more than six hours at nights gain less weight and have less belly and visceral fat than people who get five hours or less per night! This has been firmly documented. The bottom line is that a healthy body needs adequate rest time.

• Stress: Stress is associated with the increased production of various stress hormones which aid in holding body fat and retarding weight loss. Decrease stress! Whatever the source of stress, too much stress makes it almost impossible to shed weight, especially from the belly. The stress hormone cortisol increases the body's efforts to hold on to fat. Higher levels of this stress hormone has been linked with increased presence of visceral fat.

As we age, men and women experience a declining metabolic rate, which means the body requires less caloric intake to perform the bodily functions. We don't need as much food! The result is often weight gain. This weight is more likely to occupy belly space. Women see a decline in female hormones and men will slowly experience a decline in male-hormone levels. This decline in sex hormones is the cause of the decreased metabolic rate experienced with ageing. Decreased hormone levels in women is also directly associated with higher amounts of belly fat.

Write to:

Lifeline,

PO BOX 1731,

KGN 8

Email: arnaj56@gmail.com

AJM