Belly Fat - What It Is and Why You Should Get Rid of It

If you want to lose belly fat, first you should think of reasons of how to get rid of excess abdominal fat? One reason is the bulge in the middle of your body really makes you look ugly. But the very important reason is the excess fat sitting around belly, which doesn’t just look ugly but also very harmful to your health. Most of us want to lose belly fat faster for improved looks.

So, if you really are concerned about your health than your looks, you should focus on losing belly fat. Many studies have shown that a majority of men and women in countries like the USA, Western European countries, Australia etc. are overweight, though many of them may not consider themselves as to be obese. And even those who are concerned about their obesity have their concerns based on the wrong reasons i.e. by worrying about their appearance but not about the impact of their belly fat on their overall health!

To better understand how dangerous your belly fat can be, you should first know about the types of abdominal fat (a) Subcutaneous fat and (b) Visceral fat

Subcutaneous fat lies just above the abdominal muscle and below the skin. Visceral fat is however much deeper, under your muscle, adjoining the organs. It is the Visceral fat that makes your belly protrude, unlike the subcutaneous fat which is soft.

Both subcutaneous and visceral fat pose health risks, visceral fat are more risky for health. Since visceral fat releases more inflammatory molecules into the body on a daily basis, it can cause serious health problems like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, inflammation, stroke, sleep apnea, various forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

A diet rich in Carbohydrates is the most common cause of visceral fat to accumulate in your body. Excess carbohydrate consumption will often lead to insulin resistance over time which results an increase in blood sugar levels.

One way to reduce abdominal fat is to decrease the consumption of grain based foods and switch to a food comprising more of vegetables and fruits that are rich in fiber. And of course you will have to do exercise on a regular basis if you are serious about losing abdominal fat.