Can’t Blame It On Your Age
Approximately two thirds of the U.S. population has excess fat around their abdomen. In 12 years, 2000 to 2012, U.S. belly fat data shows an increase from 46.4% to 54.2%. This means American has expanded their waistlines 1.2 inches wider and this includes people of all ages. Larger body sizes and waistlines are becoming normalized in society and we cannot blame this condition on aging. Data from 2004, estimated that 24% or greater of men and 41% of women between the ages of 20 and 29 years are abdominally obese.
Naming Your Belly Fat
There are two different kinds of belly fat which are categorized by to different locations. Subcutaneous adipose (fat) tissue (SAT) is stored above the abdominal muscles and below the surface of the skin. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is stored below the abdominal muscles and surrounds the major internal organs; such as, the liver, pancreas and heart. Excess fat storage of the VAT is the most dangerous because it is more metabolically active, insulin resistant, provides more fatty acids to the liver, reduces blood glucose regulation, elevates blood pressure and lipids and increases inflammation in the body. The lesser evil SAT strikes us with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. It is estimated that 84% of our country with belly obesity are metabolically unhealthy.
The reasons are still emerging on why belly fat has reached epidemic proportions. We know that smoking and excessive alcohol consumption increases risk for cardiometabolic disease and abdominal obesity. Moreover, research show that between 25 and 65 years of age, VAT increases more than 200% in men and nearly 400% in women. As men and women age with the tendency of overall weight gain, the fat distribution switches from peripheral (SAT) to visceral storage (VAT). Much ongoing research shows that VAT significantly increases during pregnancy and the four years before menopause through the end of menopause. In addition, lower “free testosterone” increases VAT in men and higher “free testosterone” increases VAT in women.
Free or Bioavailable Testosterone
Testosterone is a male sex hormone that develops male features. Male testosterone is made in the testes and the adrenal glands. Women’s ovaries make small amounts of testosterone and it helps the female’s organs an body processes. The pituitary gland in your brain controls the amount made of testosterone. Testosterone traveling in the blood attaches to two proteins; albumin and sex hormone binding globulin. Some testosterone does not attach to proteins; thereby, it is called free. Free testosterone and albumin-bound testosterone are also referred to as bioavailable testosterone and this is the testosterone that is easily used by your body. Your healthcare provider can test you for high and low testosterone and the three types of testosterone. Normal testosterone level in men is 270 - 1070 ng/dl with the average being 679 ng/dl and for women normal is 15 - 70 ng/dl. Today, 90% of women’s health, 20 - 40 years of age suffers from low testosterone. Both men and women can have health problems because of low or high levels of testosterone.
Tactics to Target Visceral Fat Cells - Bring in the SWAT Team
“S” is for strategies of energy intake (your eating); such as, Low-carb diet, Ketogenic diet and Intermittent Fasting. Many studies that shown that low-carb diets are more effective at reducing visceral fat than low-fat diets. In an 8-week study including 69 overweight men and women, scientists found that people who followed a low-carb diet lost 10% more visceral fat and 4.4% more total fat than those on a low-fat diet. In addition, the Ketogenic diet shows promise of reducing visceral fat by a study including 28 overweight and obese adults who followed a ketogenic diet while eating approximately 300 more calories a day. Comparing a Low-carb diet to a Ketogenic diet, the Ketogenic diet drastically reduces carb intake but replaces the carb calories with fat calories. Intermittent Fasting is a recent trend that is based on timing of energy intake. Common approaches include some level of fasting for one to three days a week with or without food choice restrictions on the other days. Intermittent Fasting is proposed as a weight loss method that makes metabolic alterations and improves diet adherence. However, when comparing 12 studies between “intermittent fasting and “continuous energy restriction diets” (no fasting), both of these diet patterns had results of similar weight loss and reduction in waist circumference.
“W” is for weight training as in resistance training. The effect of 12 weeks of resistance training on 20 sedentary females aged 22 - 28 showed a significant increase in growth hormone, estrogen, parathyroid hormone and testosterone compared to a control group. The participants performedight resistance exercises that worked the major muscle groups in this order: chest press, leg extension, shoulder press, leg curls, latissimus pull down. leg press, arm curls and triceps extension. The training consisted of 50 - 60 minutes of circuit weight training per day, three days a week, for 12 weeks. The training protocol included two to four sets with 8 - 12 maximal repetitions at 65 - 80% of one-repetition maximum (a % of the most you can do) Another resistance exercise study examined the effect of exercise selection on the acute hormonal response of men using lower-body multi-joint free weight vs. machine weight exercises. Ten resistance trained men, 22 - 28 years of age completed six sets of 10 reps of squat or leg press, at the same relative intensity, separated by one week. Blood samples were collected before, immediately after and 15 and 30 minutes after exercise and analyzed for testosterone (T), growth hormone (GH) and cortisol (C) concentrations. Weight training increased T and GH immediately after with the concentrations at immediately after being greater for the squat. At 15 and 30 minutes after, GH was greater for the squat. Cortisol was increased after exercise and was greater for the squat than for the leg press. Free weight exercise seemed to induce greater hormonal responses to free weight exercise vs. machine weight exercise using similar lower-body multi-joint movements.
“A” is for aerobic exercise; commonly known as cardio. Many studies have shown that aerobic exercise can help you lose visceral fat even without dieting. An analysis of 15 studies in 852 people compared how well different types of exercise reduced visceral fat without dieting. Moreover, the studies showed moderate and high-intensity aerobic exercise were the most effective at reducing visceral fat without dieting. Most importantly, both aerobic and resistance training prevented regain of harmful visceral fat. The study group was comprised of 208 healthy, premenopausal women, ages 21 - 46, with BMI between 27 - 30 kg/m2 and all subjects were non-smokers of overall good health and had normal menstrual cycles.
“T” is for green tea; a bioactive compound. In particular, green tea catechins (GTC) and caffeine have been proposed to have separate an combined effects on energy expenditure, fat absorption and fat oxidation. Green tea has been studied for its role in health and weight management with conflicting results. Tea is the most frequently consumed beverage worldwide, besides water. Tea possesses significant anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory. anti-microbial, anti-carcinogenic, anti-hypertensive, neuroprotective, cholesterol-lowering an thermogenic properties. Research and studies suggest that green tea has numerous beneficial effects on health, including the prevention of diseases; such as, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, stroke, genital warts and obesity. Controversies regarding green tea benefits and risks still exist, however, scientific research is significantly rising.
Belly Fat Battle
The battle is critical against belly fat, obesity and soaring health risks. There is still no miracle diet, food, nutrient or bioactive compound that will target abdominal fat. The best recommendation is to evaluate your cardiometabolic health risk, follow evidence-based nutrition that have repeatedly shown to be heart-healthy and work with a qualified exercise professional to manage your physical training and nutrition to achieve healthy weight loss and resistance training benefits.
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