Belly Fat: Consequences and Answers
While a belly laugh sounds fun, belly fat is no laughing matter. Here’s a discussion on belly fat from Nedra Sahr, M.S., C.N.S.:
Pot belly — spare tire — love handles… call it what you will… it’s without question the first concern most of us have when we want to get in shape. Belly fat is stored energy. To get rid of the fat, you have to burn more energy (calories) than you take in. There is a link between abdominal fat and markers of chronic inflammation. The idea is that fat is an “organ” that produces substances such as leptins and cytokines that can affect your health.
Most doctors will tell you that the best way to avoid a heart attack is to lower your cholesterol… that’s only true for less than half of all patients at risk for heart disease. What we now know is that there’s another, possibly more, important marker, the amount of inflammation that you have in your body. We measure it by checking the levels of C-reactive protein in the blood. Elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) are linked with a higher than average risk of heart disease.
What’s interesting is that higher CRP levels are linked with body fat, especially the belly fat stored around your waist AND that belly fat is linked with insulin resistance. Insulin resistance, Syndrome X, Dysglycemia are all terms for the same condition: an abnormal insulin response in the body brought on by consuming too many fast-burning carbohydrates.
The answer to body fat is to eliminate refined fast burning carbohydrates from the diet, replace them with whole fruit and vegetables, and eventually whole grain products and to couple that with a consistent program of exercise. This process works!
If you’re one of those people who struggle with cravings for those fast-burning carbs, you’ll be happy to know there is natural craving reduction help available!
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