Fat is an essential energy source for your body, however, not all fat is equal. Fat around your midsection, the kind that causes love handles, increases your risk of diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. You can cut down your risk.
Keep reading to learn the causes of abdominal obesity and how to lose it.
What Causes Abdominal Obesity?
Your body has fat deposits all over – the three types of fat your body has are called essential, subcutaneous, and viscera fat. The first two types make up most of your body. Visceral fat surrounds the organs in your abdomen.
Excessive amounts of visceral fat are what lead to love handles or an apple-shaped body.
Risk Factors and Causes
Abdominal obesity is caused by a number of factors. Excess abdominal fat is unhealthy and could be a sign of bigger health problems.
Reasons for abdominal, or visceral fat, include:
- Aging
- A hormonal imbalance, such as too much cortisol or insulin resistance
- A sedentary lifestyle
- A diet that contains a lot of sugar, fat, and calories
- Lack of sleep
- Underactive thyroid conditions (hypothyroidism or Hashimoto’s disease)
Of these causes, the easiest for you to influence is your diet and activity levels. If you live a sedentary lifestyle and regularly foods high in sugar, trans fat, soda, alcohol, or overly processed food, you aren’t doing your body any favors. Abdominal fat is what causes love handles, which can be very difficult to lose.
It is important to lose this type of fat as it increases your risk for stroke, heart disease, heart attack, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, high blood pressure, colon cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia.
How to Lose Abdominal Fat
You may have heard of spot treatments for fat reduction. Many workouts, treatments, and skincare products have claimed you can target the fat around your midsection and lose inches from your waistline. This, unfortunately, is not the case.
You have many options when it comes to getting rid of love handles for good, but spot training is not the solution. The first step you can take to losing abdominal fat is changing your diet. If you eat or drink a lot of sweet foods or beverages with high fructose corn syrup and trans fats, make healthy swaps.
A diet that incorporates plant-based foods, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, lean protein, and low-fat dairy. Drink diet soda or water instead of sugary drinks. Make sure you get enough fiber daily and keep your portions in check.
Healthy adults should perform some kind of exercise daily and do moderate aerobic activity for at least 150 minutes a week, or vigorous aerobic activity for 75 minutes a week. Keep moving throughout your day. If you’re watching TV, take the commercial breaks as an opportunity to get up and move around for a few minutes.
Lose Abdominal Fat for Good
Abdominal fat can be caused by many reasons and is a detriment to your health. If you have issues with abdominal obesity, you can take steps toward losing weight and making lifestyle changes. Start with looking at your diet and moving more.
Spot training doesn’t work, so getting fit and healthy is the best way to lower your visceral fat percentage overall. Was this article helpful? Be sure to check out the rest of the posts on our site for more!
