The Truth About Belly Fat

Men and women seek to lose belly fat. You spend time doing cardio, so many crunches your abs should be as hard as steel and restrict your food intake to get the coveted flat stomach. Belly fat can signal a concern for chronic disease, especially the development of diabetes mellitus and heart disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. As you get older, you may notice a spare tire developing around your middle, but according to C. W. Randolph, M. D. and Genie James in “From Belly Fat to Belly Flat,” your hormones are causing fat to settle around your waist.

Estrogen Link

Randolph and James state the increase in circulating estrogen in both men and women after the age of 30 will cause fat redistribution in your body, causing more fat to collect in the abdominals. This additional estrogen comes from decreasing testosterone and progesterone levels in men and women. It isn’t necessarily that you are making more estrogen, but you have more of it circulating in your body.

Diet

Your diet can contribute to excessive belly fat and weight gain. Fructose intakes have increased over the years and in Medical News Today states that Americans consumed, on average, 140 pounds of fructose in 2005. This amount of fructose provides no nutritional value in your diet, but contributes to weight gain in men and women. High fructose intakes are linked to decreased insulin sensitivity, an increase in fat storage from carbohydrates and an increase in belly fat, according to Medical News Today.

Insulin Imbalance

Increased availability of insulin in your blood can cause blood sugar imbalances, which lead you to eat. When insulin is present, and there isn’t enough blood sugar for it to act on, your brain signals you to eat. Randolph and James state with increased estrogen, your body will produce more insulin, causing you to crave carbs more and eat more often. This excess intake of calories causes more weight gain as you age.

Physical Activity

As you age, physical activity tends to decline--you are getting older. Staying active is one way to decrease belly fat, especially visceral body fat, the fat that accumulates around your organs. This type of fat is the most active when doing aerobic exercise, according to the Mayo Clinic. Staying active most days of the week can help you fight the bulge in the middle.

Environmental Factors

Xenoestrogens are chemically made estrogens that are found in your environment. They act like the estrogens your body naturally produces; the problem with them is they can increase the activity of estrogen in your body. Randolph and James state that sources of the xenoestrogens include meat and dairy products, pesticides and plastic food containers, and products such as nail polish, skin-care items, hairspray, and other petroleum based products. These "foreign estrogens," as Randolph and James call them, contribute to the elevated estrogens in your body that contribute to increased belly fat.